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OM ;STIC MANNERS OF 
THE AMERICANS 



BY 



FRANCES M. TROLLOPE 

11. 



*' On me dit que pourvu que je ne parle ni de I'autorite, ni du culte, 
ni de la politique, ni de la morale, ni des gens en place, ni de 
I'opera, ni des autres spectacles, ni de personne qui tienne a quelque 
chose, je puis tout imprimer librement." — Mariage de Figaro, 




NEW YORK 

HOWARD WILFORD BELL 

259 FIFTH AVENUE 
1904 



(y^zy-p-^-^'^f^ 



^-OOPY RIGHT 19 04 

BY Howard Wilford Bell 



LIBRARY of GONisliiisI 
Two Copies fjscsivetil I 

NOV 2 IBm 

CLASS 41 XXc. Noi 



'COPY/ B. 






The Trow Press New York 



HE UNIT BOOKS 
o. 6 1 February 1904 



DOMESTIC MANNERS OF 
THE AMERICANS 



PUBLISHER'S NOTE" 

This work having been published in 
1836, no existing publisher is i^egarded 
as the owner of its literary rights 



DOMESTIC MANNERS OF THE 
AMERICANS 

CHAPTER I 

Ent?^ance of the Mississippi — Balize 

On the 4th of November^ 1827, I sailed from London^ ac- 
companied by my son and two daughters; and after a fa- 
vourable, though somewhat tedious voyage, arrived on 
Christmas-day at the mouth of the Mississippi. 

The first indication of our approach to land was the ap- 
pearance of this mighty river pouring forth its muddy mass 
of waters, and mingling with the deep blue of the Mexican 
Gulf. The shores of this river are so utterly flat, that no 
object upon them is perceptible at sea, and we gazed with 
pleasure on the muddy ocean that met us, for it told us we 
were arrived, and seven weeks of sailing had wearied us; 
yet it was not without a feeling like regret that we passed 
from the bright blue waves, whose varying aspect had so 
long furnished our chief amusement, into the murky stream 
which now received us. 

Large flights of pelicans were seen standing upon the 
long masses of mud which rose above the surface of the 
waters, and a pilot came to guide us over the bar, long be- 
fore any other indication of land was visible. 

I never beheld a scene so utterly desolate as this entrance 
of the Mississippi. Had Dante seen it, he might have 
drawn images of another Bolgia from its horrors. One 
only object rears itself above the eddying waters; this is 
the mast of a vessel long since wrecked in attempting to 
cross the bar, and it still stands, a dismal witness of the 



DOMESTIC MANNERS OF AMERICANS 

destruction that has been, and a boding prophet of that 
which is to come. 

By degrees bulrushes of enormous growth become visi- 
ble, and a few more miles of mud brought us within sight 
of a cluster of huts called the Balize, by far the most mis- 
erable station that I ever saw made the dwelling of man, 
but I was told that many families of pilots and fishermen 
lived there. 

For several miles above its mouth, the Mississippi pre- 
sents no objects more interesting than mud banks, mon- 
strous bulrushes, and now and then a huge crocodile luxu- 
riating in the slime. Another circumstance that gives to 
this dreary scene an aspect of desolation, is the incessant 
appearance of vast quantities of drift wood, which is ever 
finding its way to the different mouths of the Mississippi. 
Trees of enormous length, sometimes still bearing their 
branches, and still oftener their uptorn roots entire, the vic- 
tims of the frequent hurricane, come floating down the 
stream. Sometimes several of these, entangled together, col- 
lect among their boughs a quantity of floating rubbish, that 
gives the mass the appearance of a moving island, bearing 
a forest, with its roots mocking the heavens ; while the dis- 
honoured branches lash the tide in idle vengeance : this, as it 
approaches the vessel, and glides swiftly past, looks like the 
fragment of a world in ruins. 

As we advanced, however, we were cheered, notwith- 
standing the season, by the bright tints of southern vegeta- 
tion. The banks continue invariably flat, but a succession 
of planters' villas, sometimes merely a residence, and some- 
times surrounded by their sugar grounds and negro huts, 
varied the scene. At no one point was there an inch of what 
painters call a second distance; and for the length of one 
hundred and twenty miles, from the Balize to New Orleans, 
and one hundred miles above the town, the land is defended 

6 



ENTRANCE OF THE MISSISSIPPI 

from the encroachments of the river by a high embankment 
which is called the Levee; without which the dwellings 
would speedily disappear, as the river is evidently higher 
than the banks would be without it. When we arrived, there 
had been constant rains and of long continuance, and this 
appearance was, therefore, unusually striking, giving to 
" this great natural feature " the most unnatural appear- 
ance imaginable; and making evident, not only that man 
had been busy there, but that even the mightiest works of 
nature might be made to bear his impress; it recalled, lit- 
erally. Swift's mock heroic, 

"Nature must give way to art;" 

yet she was looking so mighty, and so unsubdued all the 
time, that I could not help fancying she would some day 
take the matter into her own hands again, and if so, fare- 
well to New Orleans. 

It is easy to imagine the total want of beauty in such a 
landscape ; but yet the form and hue of the trees and plants, 
so new to us, added to the long privation we had endured 
of all sights and sounds of land, made even these swampy 
shores seem beautiful. We were, however, impatient to 
touch as well as see the land; but the navigation from the 
Balize to New Orleans is difficult and tedious, and the two 
days that it occupied appeared longer than any we had 
passed on board. 

In truth, to those who have pleasure in contemplating 
the phenomena of nature, a sea voyage may endure many 
weeks without wearying. Perhaps some may think that the 
first glance of ocean and of sky show all they have to offer ; 
nay, even that that first glance may suggest more of dreari- 
ness than sublimity; but to me, their variety appeared end- 
less, and their beauty unfailing. The attempt to describe 

7 



DOMESTIC MANNERS OF AMERICANS 

scenery, even where the objects are prominent and tangible, 
is very rarely successful; but where the effect is so subtle 
and so varying, it must be vain. The impression, neverthe- 
less, is perhaps deeper than any other; I think it possible I 
may forget the sensations with which I watched the long 
course of the gigantic Mississippi; the Ohio and Potomac 
may mingle and be confounded with other streams in my 
memory, I may even recall with difficulty the blue outline 
of the Alleghany mountains, but never, while I remember 
any thing, can I forget the first and last hour of light on 
the Atlantic. 

The ocean, however, and all its indescribable charm, no 
longer surrounded us ; we began to feel that our walk on the 
quarter-deck was very like the exercise of an ass in the mill ; 
that our books had lost half their pages, and that the other 
half were known by rote; that our beef was very salt, and 
our biscuits very hard; in short, that having studied the 
good ship, Edward, from stem to stern, till we knew the 
name of every sail, and the use of every pulley, we had had 
enough of her, and as we laid down, head to head, in our 
tiny beds for the last time, I exclaimed with no small 
pleasure, 

"To-morrow to fresh fields and pastures new." 



OF THE AMERICANS 



CHAPTER II 

New Orleans — Society — Creoles and Quadroons 
— Voyage up the Mississippi 

On first touching the soil of a new land, of a new continent, 
of a new world, it is impossible not to feel considerable ex- 
citement and deep interest in almost every object that meets 
us. New Orleans presents very little that can gratify the 
eye of taste, but nevertheless there is much of novelty and 
interest for a newly-arrived European. The large propor- 
tion of blacks seen in the streets, all labour being performed 
by them; the grace and beauty of the elegant Quadroons, 
the occasional groups of wild and savage-looking Indians, 
the unwonted aspect of the vegetation, the huge and turbid 
river, with its low and slimy shore, all help to aiford that 
species of amusement which proceeds from looking at what 
we never saw before. 

The town has much the appearance of a French Ville de 
Province, and is, in fact, an old French colony taken from 
Spain by France. The names of the streets are French, 
and the language about equally French and English. The 
market is handsome and well supplied, all produce being 
conveyed by the river. We were much pleased by the chant 
with which the Negro boatmen regulate and beguile their 
labour on the river; it consists but of very few notes, but 
they are sweetly harmonious, and the Negro voice is almost 
always rich and powerful. 

By far the most agreeable hours I passed at New Orleans 
were those in which I explored with my children the forest 
near the town. It was our first walk in "the eternal forests 
of the western world," and we felt rather sublime and poet- 

9 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

ical. The trees, generally speaking, are mucli too close to 
be either large or well grown; and, moreover, their growth 
is often stunted by a parasitical plant, for which I could 
learn no other name than "Spanish moss;" it hangs grace- 
fully from the boughs, converting the outline of all the trees 
it hangs upon into that of weeping willows. The chief 
beauty of the forest in this region is from the luxuriant 
under-growth of palmettos, which is decidedly the loveliest 
coloured and most graceful plant I know. The pawpaw, 
too, is a splendid shrub, and in great abundance. We here, 
for the first time, saw the wild vine, which we afterward 
found growing so profusely in every part of America, as 
naturally to suggest the idea that the natives ought to add 
wine to the numerous productions of their plenty-teeming 
soil. The strong pendant festoons made safe and commo- 
dious swings, which some of our party enjoyed, despite the 
sublime temperament above-mentioned. 

Notwithstanding it was mid-winter when we were at New 
Orleans, the heat was much more than agreeable, and the 
attacks of the mosquitos incessant, and most tormenting; 
yet I suspect that for a short time, we would rather have 
endured it, than not have seen oranges, green peas, and red 
pepper, growing in the open air at Christmas. In one of 
our rambles we ventured to enter a garden, whose bright 
orange hedge attracted our attention; here we saw green 
peas fit for the table, and a fine crop of red pepper ripen- 
ing in the sun. A young Negress was employed on the 
steps of the house ; that she was a slave made her an obj ect 
of interest to us. She was the first slave we had ever spoken 
to, and I believe we all felt that we could hardly address 
her with sufficient gentleness. She little dreamed, poor girl, 
what deep sympathy she excited; she answered us civilly 
and gaily, and seemed amused at our fancying there was 
something unusual in red pepper pods; she gave us several 

10 



OF THE AMERICANS 

3f them, and I felt fearful lest a hard mistress might blame 
her for it. How very childish does ignorance make us! 
md how very ignorant we are upon almost every subject, 
where hear-say evidence is all we can get ! 

I left England with feelings so strongly opposed to 
slavery, that it was not without pain I witnessed its effects 
around me. At the sight of every Negro man, woman, and 
child that passed, my fancy wove some little romance of 
misery, as belonging to each of them; since I have known 
more on the subject, and become better acquainted with 
their real situation in America, I have often smiled at recall- 
ing what I then felt. 

The first symptom of American equality that I perceived, 
was my being introduced in form to a milliner; it was not 
at a boarding-house, under the indistinct outline of "Miss 
C*****," nor in the street, through the veil of a fashion- 
able toilette, but in the very penetralia of her temple, stand- 
ing behind her counter, giving laws to ribbon and to wire, 
and ushering caps and bonnets into existence. She was an 
English woman, and I was told that she possessed great in- 
tellectual endowments, and much information; I really be- 
lieve this was true. Her manner was easy and graceful, 
with a good deal of French tournure: and the gentleness 
with which her fine eyes and sweet voice directed the move- 
ments of a young female slave, was really touching: the 
way, too, in which she blended her French talk of modes 
with her customers, and her English talk of metaphysics 
with her friends, had a pretty air of indifference in it, that 
gave her a superiority with both. 

I found with her the daughter of a judge, eminent, it 
was said, both for legal and literary ability; and I heard 
from many quarters, after I had left New Orleans, that the 
society of this lady was highly valued by all persons of 
talent. Yet were I, traveller-like, to stop here, and set it 

11 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

down as a national peculiarity, or republican custom, that 
milliners took the lead in the best society, I should greatly 
falsify facts. I do not remember the same thing happen- 
ing to me again ; and this is one instance, among a thousand, 
of the impression every circumstance makes on entering a 
new country, and of the propensity, so irresistible, to class 
all things, however accidental, as national and peculiar. On 
the other hand, however, it is certain that if similar anom- 
alies are unfrequent in America, they are nearly impossible 
elsewhere. 

In the shop of Miss C**^*^ I was introduced to Mr. 
M'Clure, a venerable personage, of gentleman-like appear- | 
ance, who, in the course of five minutes, propounded as i] 
many axioms, as "Ignorance is the only devil:" "Man makes 
his own existence;" and the like. He was of the New Har- 
mony school, or rather the New Harmony school was of 
him. He was a man of good fortune, (a Scotchman, I be- 
lieve,) who, after living a tolerably gay life, had "conceived 
high thoughts, such as Lycurgus loved, who bade flog the 
little Spartans," and determined to benefit the species, and 
immortalize himself, by founding a philosophical school at 
New Harmony. There was something in the hollow square 
legislations of Mr, Owen, that struck him as admirable ; and 
he seems, as far as I can understand, to have intended aid- 
ing his views, by a sort of incipient hollow square drilling; 
teaching the young ideas of all he could catch to shoot into 
parallelogrammic form and order. This venerable philoso- 
pher, like all of his school that I ever heard of, loved better 
to originate lofty imaginings of faultless systems, than to 
watch their application to practice. With much liberality 
he purchased and conveyed to the wilderness a very noble 
collection of books and scientific instruments; but not find- 
ing among men one whose views were liberal and enlarged 
as his own, he selected a woman to put into action the 

12 



OF THE AMERICANS 

iiacachine he had organized. As his acquaintance with this 
lady had been of long standing, and, as it was said, very 
intimate, he felt sure that no violation of his rules would 
have place under her sway; they would act together as one 
being : he was to perform the functions of the soul, and will 
every thing; she, those of the body, and perform every 
thing. 

The principal feature of the scheme was, that (the first 
liberal outfit of the institution having been furnished by 
Mr. M'Clure,) the expense of keeping it up should be de- 
frayed by the profits arising from the labours of the pupils, 
male and female, which was to be performed at stated inter- 
vals of each day, in regular rotation with learned study and 
scientific research. But unfortunately the soul of the sys- 
tem found the climate of Indiana uncongenial to its peculiar 
formation, and, therefore, took its flight to Mexico, leaving 
the body to perform the operations of both, in whatever 
manner it liked best; and the body, being a French body, 
found no difficulty in setting actively to work without 
troubling the soul about it; and soon becoming conscious 
that the more simple was a machine, the more perfect were 
its operations, she threw out all that related to the intel- 
lectual part of the business, (which, to do poor soul justice, 
it had laid great stress upon,) and stirred herself as ef- 
fectually as ever body did, to draw wealth from the thews 
and sinews of the youths they had collected. When last I 
heard of this philosophical establishment, she, and a 
nephew-son, were said to be reaping a golden harvest, as 
many of the lads had been sent from a distance by indigent 
parents, for gratuitous education, and possessed no means 
of leaving it. 

Our stay in New Orleans was not long enough to permit 
our entering into society, but I was told that it contained two 
distinct sets of people^ both celebrated, in their way, for 

13 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

their social meetings and elegant entertainments. The first 
of these is composed of Creole families^ who are chiefly 
planters and merchants, with their wives and daughters; 
these meet together, eat together, and are very grand and 
aristocratic; each of their balls is a little Almack's, and 
every portly dame of the set is as exclusive in her princi- 
ples as a lady patroness. The other set consists of the ex- 
cluded but amiable Quadroons, and such of the gentlemen 
of the former class as can by any means escape from the 
high places, where pure Creole blood swells the veins at 
the bare mention of any being tainted in the remotest de- 
gree with the Negro stain. 

Of all the prejudices I have ever witnessed, this appears 
to me the most violent, and the most inveterate. Quadroon 
girls, the acknowledged daughters of wealthy American or 
Creole fathers, educated with all of style and accomplish- 
ments which money can procure at New Orleans, and with 
all the decorum that care and affection can give ; exquisitely 
beautiful, graceful, gentle, and amiable, these are not ad- 
mitted, nay, are not on any terms admissible, into the society 
of the Creole families of Louisiana. They cannot marry; 
that is to say, no ceremony can render an union with them 
legal or binding; yet such is the powerful effect of their 
very peculiar grace, beauty, and sweetness of manner, that , 
unfortunately they perpetually become the objects of choice ] 
and affection. If the Creole ladies have privilege to exer- 
cise the awful power of repulsion, the gentle Quadroon has 
the sweet but dangerous vengeance of possessing that of : 
attraction. The unions formed with this unfortunate race > 
are said to be often lasting and happy, as far as any unions 
can be so, to which a certain degree of disgrace is attached, j 

There is a French and an English theatre in the town; | 
but we were too fresh from Europe to care much for either ; 
or, indeed^ for any other of the town delights of the city, | 

14 



OF THE AMERICANS 

md we soon became eager to commence our voyage up the 
Vlississippi. 

Miss Wright, then less known (though the author of 
nore than one clever volume) than she has since become, 
vas the companion of our voyage from Europe ; and it was 
ny purpose to have passed some months with her and her 
ister at the estate she had purchased in Tennessee. This 
^ady, since become so celebrated as the advocate of opin- 
ons that make millions shudder, and some half-score ad- 
nire, was, at the time of my leaving England with her, 
iedicated to a pursuit widely different from her subsequent 
occupations. Instead of becoming a public orator in every 
[own throughout America, she was about, as she said, to 
eclude herself for life in the deepest forests of the western 
tvorld, that her fortune, her time, and her talents might be 
exclusively devoted to aid the cause of the suffering 
Africans. Her first object was to show that nature had 
made no difference between blacks and whites, excepting 
in complexion; and this she expected to prove, by giving 
an education perfectly equal to a class of black and white 
children. Could this fact be once fully established, she 
conceived that the Negro cause would stand on firmer 
ground than it had yet done, and the degraded rank which 
they have ever held amongst civilized nations would be 
proved to be a gross injustice. 

This question of the mental equality, or inequality, be- 
tween us and the Negro race, is one of great interest, and 
has certainly never yet been fairly tried; and I expected 
for my children and myself both pleasure and information 
from visiting her establishment, and watching the success 
of her experiment. 

The innumerable steam boats, which are the stage coaches 
and fly waggons of this land of lakes and rivers, are totally 
unlike any I had seen in Europe, and greatly superior to 

15 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

tliem. The fabrics which I think they most resemble in 
appearance, are the floating baths (les bains Vigier) at 
Paris. The room to which the double line of windows be- 
longs, is a very handsome apartment; before each window 
a neat little cot is arranged in such a manner as to give its 
drapery the air of a window curtain. This room is called 
the gentlemen's cabin, and their exclusive right to it is some- 
what uncourteously insisted upon. The breakfast, dinner, 
and supper, are laid in this apartment, and the lady passen- 
gers are permitted to take their meals there. 

On the first of January, 1828, we embarked on board 
the Belvidere, a large and handsome boat; though not the 
largest or handsomest of the many which displayed them- 
selves along the wharfs ; but she was going to stop at Mem- 
phis, the point of the river nearest to Miss Wright's resi- 
dence, and she was the first that departed after we had got 
through the custom-house, and finished our sight-seeing. 
We found the room destined for the use of the ladies dismal 
enough, as its only windows were below the stern gallery; 
but both this and the gentlemen's cabin were handsomely 
fitted up, and the latter well carpeted ; but oh ! that carpet ! 
I will not, I may not describe its condition ; indeed it requires 
the pen of a Swift to do it justice. Let no one who wishes 
to receive agreeable impressions of American manners, com- 
mence their travels in a Mississippi steam boat; for myself, 
it is with all sincerity I declare, that I would infinitely pre- 
fer sharing the apartment of a party of well-conditioned 
pigs to the being confined to its cabin. 

I hardly know any annoyance so deeply repugnant to 
English feelings, as the incessant, remorseless spitting of 
Americans. I feel that I owe my readers an apology for 
the repeated use of this, and several other odious words; 
but I cannot avoid them, without suffering the fidelity of 
description to escape me. It is possible that in this phrase, 

16 



OF THE AMERICANS 

"Americans/' I may be too general. The United States 
form a continent of almost distinct nations, and I must now, 
and always, be understood to speak only of that portion of 
them which I have seen. In conversing with Americans 
I have constantly found that if I alluded to any thing which 
they thought I considered as uncouth, they would assure me 
it was local, and not national ; the accidental peculiarity of 
a very small part^ and by no means a specimen of the whole. 
"That is because you know so little of America," is a phrase 
I have listened to a thousand times, and in nearly as many 
different places. It may be so — and having made this con- 
cession, I protest against the charge of injustice in relating 
what I have seen. 



17 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 



CHAPTER III 

■ i 

Company on hoard the Steam Boat — Sceiiery 
of the Mississippi — Crocodiles — Arrival at 
Memphis — Nashoba I 

The weather was warm and bright, and we found the guard 1 
of the boat, as they call the gallery that runs round the 
cabins, a very agreeable station; here we all sat as long as 
light lasted, and sometimes, wrapped in our shawls, we en- 
joyed the clear bright beauty of American moonlight long 
after every passenger but ourselves had retired. We had 
a full complement of passengers on board. The deck, as 
is usual, was occupied by the Kentucky flat-boat men, re- 
turning from New Orleans, after having disposed of the boat 
and cargo which they had conveyed thither, with no other 
labour than that of steering her, the current bringing her 
down at the rate of four miles an hour. We had about two 
hundred of these men on board, but the part of the vessel 
occupied by them is so distinct from the cabins, that we 
never saw them, except when we stopped to take in wood; 
and then they ran, or rather sprung and vaulted over each 
other's heads to the shore, whence they all assisted in carry- 
ing wood to supply the steam engine; the performance of 
this duty being a stipulated part of the payment of their 
passage. 

From the account given by a man servant we had on 
board, who shared their quarters, they are a most disorderly 
set of persons, constantly gambling and wrangling, very 
seldom sober, and never suffering a night to pass without 
giving practical proof of the respect in which they hold 



OF THE AMERICANS 

the doctrines of equality and community of property. The 
clerk of the vessel was kind enough to take our man under 
his protection^ and assigned him a berth in his own little 
nook; but as this was not inaccessible^ he told him by no 
means to detach his watch or money from his person during 
the night. Whatever their moral characteristics may be, 
these Kentuckians are a very noble-looking race of men; 
their average height considerably exceeds that of Europeans, 
and their countenances, excepting when disfigured by red 
hair, which is not unfrequent, extremely handsome. 

The gentlemen in the cabin (we had no ladies) would 
certainly, neither from their language, manners, nor appear- 
ance, have received that designation in Europe; but we soon 
found their claim to it rested on more substantial ground, 
for we heard them nearly all addressed by the titles of gen- 
eral, colonel, and maj or. On mentioning these military dig- 
nities to an English friend some time afterwards, he told 
me that he too had made the voyage with the same descrip- 
tion of company, but remarking that there was not a single 
captain among them; he made the observation to a fellow- 
passenger, and asked how he accounted for it. "Oh, sir, 
the captains are all on deck," was the reply. 

Our honours, however, were not all military, for we had 
a judge among us. I know it is equally easy and invidious 
to ridicule the peculiarities of appearance and manner in 
people of a different nation from ourselves ; we may, too, at 
the same moment be undergoing the same ordeal in their 
estimation; and, moreover, I am by no means disposed to 
consider whatever is new to me as therefore objectionable; 
but, nevertheless, it was impossible not to feel repugnance 
to many of the novelties that now surrounded me. 

The total want of all the usual courtesies of the table, 
the voracious rapidity with which the viands were seized 
and devoured, the strange uncouth phrases and pronuncia- 

19 



DOMESTIC MANNERS ' 

tion; the loathsome spitting, from the contamination of 
which it was absolutely impossible to protect our dresses; 
the frightful manner of feeding with their knives, till the 
whole blade seemed to enter into the mouth; and the still 
more frightful manner of cleaning the teeth afterwards with 
a pocket knife, soon forced us to feel that we were not sur- 
rounded by the generals, colonels, and majors of the old 
world ; and that the dinner hour was to be any thing rather 
than an hour of enjoyment. 

The little conversation that went forward while we re- 
mained in the room was entirely political, and the respective 
claims of Adams and Jackson to the presidency were argued 
with more oaths and more vehemence than it had ever been 
my lot to hear. Once a colonel appeared on the verge of 
assaulting a major, when a huge seven-foot Kentuckian 
gentleman horse-dealer asked of the heavens to confound 
them both, and bade them sit still and be d — d. We too 
thought we should share this sentence; at least, sitting still 
in the cabin seemed very nearly to include the rest of it, 
and we never tarried there a moment longer than was abso- 
lutely necessary to eat. 

The unbroken flatness of the banks of the Mississippi 
continued unvaried for many miles above New Orleans; but 
the graceful and luxuriant palmetto, the dark and noble 
ilex, and the bright orange, were every where to be seen, 
and it was many days before we were weary of looking at 
them. We occasionally used the opportunity of the boat's 
stopping to take in wood, for a ten minutes' visit to the 
shore; we in this manner explored a field of sugar-canes, 
and loaded ourselves with as much of the sweet spoil as we 
could carry. Many of the passengers seemed fond of the 
luscious juice that is easily expressed from the canes, 
but it was too sweet for my palate. We also visited, in the 
same rapid manner, a cotton plantation. A handsome spa- 

20 



OF THE AMERICANS 

jcious building was pointed out to us as a convent, where a 
considerable number of young ladies were educated by the 
nuns. 

At one or two points the wearisome level line of forest is 
relieved by bluffs, as they call the short intervals of high 
ground. The town of Natches is beautifully situated on 
one of these high spots; the climate here, in the warm sea- 
son, is as fatal as that of New Orleans ; were it not for this, 
Natches would have great attractions to new settlers. The 
beautiful contrast that its bright green hill forms with the 
dismal line of "black forest that stretches on every side, the 
abundant growth of pawpaw, palmetto, and orange, the 
copious variety of sweet-scented flowers that flourish there, 
all make it appear like an oasis in the desert. Natches is 
the furthest point to the north at which oranges ripen in 
the open air, or endure the winter without shelter. With 
the exception of this sweet spot, I thought all the little 
towns and villages we passed wretched-looking in the ex- 
treme. As the distance from New Orleans increased, the 
air of wealth and comfort exhibited in its immediate neigh- 
bourhood disappeared, and but for one or two clusters of 
wooden houses, calling themselves towns, and borrowing 
some pompous name, generally from Greece or Rome, we 
might have thought ourselves the first of the human race 
who had ever penetrated into this territory of bears and 
alligators. But still, from time to time, appeared the hut 
of the wood-cutter, who supplies the steam boats with fuel, 
at the risk, or rather with the assurance of early death, in 
exchange for dollars and whiskey. These sad dwellings 
are nearly all of them inundated during the winter, and 
the best of them are constructed on piles, which permit the 
water to reach its highest level without drowning the 
wretched inhabitants. These unhappy beings are invaria- 
bly the victims of ague, which they meet recklessly, sus- 

21 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

tained by the incessant use of ardent spirits. The squalid 
look of the miserable wives and children of these men was 
dreadful; and often as the spectacle was renewed^ I could 
never look at it with indifference. Their complexion is of 
a bluish white^ that suggests the idea of dropsy; this is 
invariable^ and the poor little ones wear exactly the same 
ghastly hue. A miserable cow and a few pigs^ standing 
knee-deep in water^ distinguish the more prosperous of these 
dwellings; and on the whole I should say^ that I never wit- 
nessed human nature reduced so low as it appeared in 
the wood-cutters' huts on the unwholesome banks of the 
Mississippi. 

It is said that^ at some points of this dismal river, croco- 
diles are so abundant as to add the terror of their attacks 
to the other sufferings of a dwelling there. We were told 
a story of a squatter, who having "located" himself close 
to the river's edge, proceeded to build his cabin. This 
operation is soon performed, for social feeling and the love 
of whiskey bring all the scanty neighbourhood round a new 
comer, to aid him in cutting down trees, and in rolling up 
the logs, till the mansion is complete. This was done; the 
wife and five young children were put in possession of their 
new home, and slept soundly after a long march. Towards 
daybreak the husband and father was awakened by a faint 
cry, and looking up, beheld relics of three of his children 
scattered over the floor, and an enormous crocodile, with 
several young ones around her, occupied in devouring the 
remnants of their horrid meal. He looked round for a 
weapon, but finding none, and aware that unarmed he could 
do nothing, he raised himself gently on his bed, and con- 
trived to crawl from thence through a window, hoping that 
his wife, whom he left sleeping, might with the remaining 
children, rest undiscovered till his return. He flew to his 
nearest neighbour and besought his aid; in less than half 

22 



OF THE AMERICANS 

an hour two men returned with him, all three well armed: 
but alas ! they were too late ! the wife and her two babes 
lay mangled on their bloody bed. The gorged reptiles fell 
an easy prey to their assailants, who, upon examining the 
place, found the hut had been constructed close to the 
mouth of a large hole, almost a cavern, where the monster 
had hatched her hateful brood. 

Among other sights of desolation which mark this region, 
condemned of nature, the lurid glare of a burning forest 
was almost constantly visible after sunset; and when the 
wind so willed, the smoke arising from it floated in heavy 
vapour over our heads. Not all the novelty of the scene, 
not all its vastness, could prevent its heavy horror wearying 
the spirits. Perhaps the dinners and suppers I have de- 
scribed may help to account for this; but certain it is, that 
when we had wondered for a week at the ceaseless con- 
tinuity of forest ; had first admired, and then wearied of the 
festooned drapery of Spanish moss; when we had learned / 
to distinguish the different masses of timber that passed 
us, or that we passed, as a "snag," a "log," or a "sawyer"; 
when we had finally made up our minds that the gentlemen 
of the Kentucky and Ohio military establishments were not 
of the same genus as those of the Tuileries and St. James's, 
we began to wish that we could sleep more hours away. As 
we advanced to the northward, we were no longer cheered 
by the beautiful border of palmettos: and even the amuse- 
ment of occasionally spying out a sleeping crocodile was 
over. 

Just in this state, when we would have fain believed that 
every mile we went carried us two towards Memphis, a sud- 
den and violent shock startled us frightfully. 

"It is a sawyer !" said one. 

"It is a snag !" cried another. 

"We are aground !" exclaimed the captain. 

23 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

"Aground ? Good heavens ! and how long shall we stay 
here ?" 

"The Lord in his providence can only tell^ but long 
enough to tire my patience, I expect." 

And the poor English ladies, how fared they the while? 

Two breakfasts, two dinners, and a supper did they eat, 
with the Ohio and Kentucky gentlemen, before they moved 
an inch. Several steam boats passed while we were thus 
enthralled; but some were not strong enough to attempt 
drawing us off, and some attempted it, but were not strong 
enough to succeed; at length a vast and mighty "thing of 
life" approached, threw out grappling irons; and in three 
miajites the business was done ; again we saw the trees and 
mud slide swiftly past us; and a hearty shout from every 
passenger on deck declared their joy. 

At length we had the pleasure of being told that we had 
arrived at Memphis; but this pleasure was considerably 
abated by the hour of our arrival, which was midnight, and 
by the rain, which was falling in torrents. 

Memphis stands on a high bluff, and at the time of our 
arrival was nearly inaccessible. The heavy rain which had 
been falling for many hours would have made any steep 
ascent difficult, but unfortunately a new road had been re- 
cently marked out, which beguiled us into its almost bottom- 
less mud, from the firmer footing of the unbroken cliff. 
Shoes and gloves were lost in the mire, for we were glad 
to avail ourselves of all our limbs, and we reached the grand 
hotel in a most deplorable state. 

Miss Wright was well known there, and as soon as her 
arrival was announced, every one seemed on the alert to 
receive her, and we soon found ourselves in possession of 
the best rooms in the hotel. The house was new, and in 
what appeared to me a very comfortless condition, but I 
was then new to Western America, and unaccustomed to 

24 



OF THE AMERICANS 

their mode of "getting along/' as they term it. This phrase 
is eternally in use among them, and seems to mean, existing 
with as few of the comforts of life as possible. 

We slept somidly, however, and rose in the hope of soon 
changing our mortar-smelling quarters for Miss Wright's 
Nashoba. 

But we presently found that the rain which had fallen 
during the night would make it hazardous to venture through 
the forests of Tennessee in any sort of carriage; we there- 
fore had to pass the day at our queer comfortless hotel. 
The steam boat had wearied me of social meals, and I 
should have been thankful to have eaten our dinner of hard 
venison and peach-sauce in a private room; but this. Miss 
Wright said, was impossible; the lady of the house would 
consider the proposal as a personal affront, and, moreover, 
it would be assuredly refused. This latter argument car- 
ried weight with it, and when the great bell was sounded 
from an upper window of the house, we proceeded to the 
dining-room. The table was laid for fifty persons, and was 
already nearly full. Our party had the honour of sitting 
near "the lady," but to check the proud feelings to which 
such distinction might give birth, my servant, William, sat 
very nearly opposite to me. The company consisted of all 
the shop-keepers (store-keepers as they are called through- 
out the United States) of the little town. The mayor also, 
who was a friend of Miss Wright's, was of the party; he is 
a pleasing gentleman-like man, and seems strangely mis- 
placed in a little town on the Mississippi. We were told 
that since the erection of this hotel, it has been the custom 
for all the male inhabitants of the town to dine and break- 
fast there. They ate in perfect silence, and with such 
astonishing rapidity that their dinner was over literally be- 
fore ours was begun; the instant they ceased to eat they 
darted from the table in the same moody silence which they 

25 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

had preserved since they entered the room^ and a second 
set took their places, who performed their silent parts in 
the same manner. The only sounds heard were those pro- 
duced by the knives and forks, with the unceasing chorus 
of coughing, &c. No women were present except ourselves 
and the hostess; the good women of Memphis being well 
content to let their lords partake of Mrs. Anderson's turkeys 
and venison, (without their having the trouble of cooking 
for them) whilst they regale themselves on mush and milk 
at home. 

The remainder of the day passed pleasantly enough in 
rambling round the little town, which is situated at the most 
beautiful point of the Mississippi; the river is here so wide 
as to give it the appearance of a noble lake; an island, 
covered with lofty forest trees divides it, and relieves by 
its broad mass of shadow the uniformity of its waters. The 
town stretches in a rambling irregular manner along the 
cliff, from the Wolf River, one of the innumerable tribu- 
taries to the Mississippi, to about a mile below it. Half a 
mile more of the cliff beyond the town is cleared of trees, 
and produces good pasture for horses, cows, and pigs ; sheep 
they had none. At either end of this space the forest again 
rears its dark wall, and seems to say to man, "so far shalt 
thou come, and no farther !" Courage and industry, how- 
ever, have braved the warning. Behind this long street the 
town straggles back into the forest, and the rude path that 
leads to the more distant log dwellings becomes wilder at 
every step. The ground is broken by frequent water- 
courses, and the bridges that lead across them are formed 
by trunks of trees thrown over the stream, which support 
others of smaller growth, that are laid across them. These 
bridges are not very pleasant to pass, for they totter under 
the tread of a man, and tremble most frightfully beneath 
a horse or a waggon; they are, however, very picturesque. 

26 



OF THE AMERICANS 

The great height of the trees, the quantity of pendant vine 
branches that hang amongst them; and the variety of gay- 
plumaged birds, particularly the small green parrot, made 
us feel we were in a new world ; and a repetition of our walk 
the next morning would have pleased us well, but Miss 
Wright was anxious to get home, and we were scarcely less 
so to see her Nashoba. A clumsy sort of caravan drawn by 
two horses was prepared for us ; and we set off in high 
spirits for an expedition of fifteen miles through the forest. 
To avoid passing one of the bridges above described, which 
was thought insecure, our negro driver took us through a 
piece of water, which he assured us was not deep "to mat- 
ter;" however, we soon lost sight of our pole, and as we 
were evidently descending, we gently remonstrated with 
him on the danger of proceeding, but he only grinned, and 
flogged in reply; we soon saw the front wheels disappear, 
and the horses began to plunge and kick most alarmingly, 
but still without his looking at all disturbed. At length the 
splinter-bar gave way, upon which the black philosopher 
said very composedly, "I expect you'll best be riding out 
upon the horses, as we've got into an unhandsome fix here." 
Miss Wright, who sat composedly smiling at the scene, said, 
"Yes, Jacob, that is what we must do ;" and with some diffi- 
culty we, in this manner, reached the shore, and soon found 
ourselves again assembled round Mrs. Anderson's fire. 

It was soon settled that we must delay our departure till 
the waters had subsided, but Miss Wright was too anxious 
to reach home to endure this delay, and she set off again 
on horseback, accompanied by our man servant, who told 
me afterwards that they rode through places that might 
have daunted the boldest hunter, but that "Miss Wright 
took it quite easy." 

The next day we started again, and the clear air, the 
bright sun, the novel wildness of the dark forest, and our 

27 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

keenly awakened curiosity, made the excursion delightful, 
and enabled us to bear without shrinking the bumps and 
bruises we encountered. We soon lost all trace of a road, 
at least so it appeared to us, for the stumps of the trees, 
which had been cut away to open a passage, were left stand- 
ing three feet high. Over these, the high-hung Deerborn, 
as our carriage was called, passed safely; but it required 
some miles of experience to convince us that every stump 
would not be our last ; it was amusing to watch the cool and 
easy skill with which the driver wound his horses and wheels 
among these stumps. I thought he might have been im- 
ported to Bond-street with great advantage. The forest 
became thicker and more dreary-looking every mile we ad- 
vanced, but our ever-grinning negro declared it was a right 
good road, and that we should be sure to get to Nashoba. 

And so we did and one glance 

sufficed to convince me that every idea I had formed of the 
place was as far as possible from the truth. Desolation was 
the only feeling — the only word that presented itself: but 
it was not spoken. I think, however, that Miss Wright was 
aware of the painful impression the sight of her forest home 
produced on me, and I doubt not that the conviction reached 
us both at the same moment, that we had erred in thinking 
that a few months passed together at this spot could be 
productive of pleasure to either. But to do her justice, I 
believe her mind was so exclusively occupied by the object 
she had then in view, that all things else were worthless, or 
indifferent to her. I never heard or read of any enthusiasm 
approaching hers, except in some few instances, in ages 
past, of religious fanaticism. 

It must have been some feeling equally powerful which 
enabled Miss Wright, accustomed to all the comfort and 
refinement of Europe, to imagine not only that she herself 
could exist in this wilderness, but that her European friends 

28 



OF THE AMERICANS 

could enter there, and not feel dismayed at the savage aspect 
of the scene. Each building consisted of two large rooms 
furnished in the most simple manner; nor had they as yet 
collected round them any of those minor comforts which 
ordi) ^ary minds class among the necessaries of life. But 
in t s our philosophical friend seemed to see no evil: nor 
was lere any mixture of affectation in this indifference; it 
was , circumstance really and truly beneath her notice. 
Her . lole heart and soul were occupied by the hope of rais- 
ing , . African to the level of European intellect; and even 
now*, .at I have seen this favourite fabric of her imagina- 
tion n to pieces beneath her feet, I cannot recall the 
self-di:;votion with which she gave herself to it, without 
admiration. 

The only white persons we found at Nashoba were my 
amiable friend, Mrs. W****, the sister of Miss Wright, and 
her husband. I think they had between thirty and forty 
slaves, including children, but when I was there no school 
had bem established. Books and other materials for the 
great experiment had been collected, and one or two pro- 
fessors engaged, but nothing was yet organized. I found 
my fritnd Mrs. W**** in very bad health, which she con- 
fessed she attributed to the climate. This naturally so 
much akrmed me for my children, that I decided upon leav- 
ing the place with as little delay as possible, and did so at 
the end of ten days. 

I do not exactly know what was the immediate cause 
which iniuced Miss Wright to abandon a scheme which had 
taken such possession of her imagination, and on which she 
had expended so much money; but many months had not 
elapsed before I learnt, with much pleasure, that she and 
her sister had also left it. I think it probable that she be- 
came aw2te, upon returning to Nashoba, that the climate 
was too lostile to their health. All I know farther of 

29 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

Nashoba is, that Miss Wright having found (from, 
cause or other) that it was impossible to pursue her ( 
herself accompanied her slaves to Hayti, and left 
there, free, and under the protection of the President 
I found no beauty in the scenery round Nashoba, n( 
I conceive that it would possess any even in summer, 
trees were so close to each other as not to permit the g 
of underwood, the great ornament of the forest at 
Orleans, and still less of our seeing any openings, wh 
varying effects of light and shade might atone for > 
sence of other objects. The clearing round the set 
appeared to me inconsiderable and imperfect; bu* , 
told that they had grown good crops of cotton ana .|^ 
corn. The weather was dry and agreeable, and the 
of the heavens by night surprisingly beautiful. J 
saw moonlight so clear, so pure, so powerful. : 

We returned to Memphis on the 26th of January; || 
and found ourselves obliged to pass five days there, a 
a steam boat for Cincinnati, to which metropolis of t] 
I was now determined to proceed with my family i 
the arrival of Mr. Trollope. We were told by e\ ^^ 
we spoke to at Memphis, that it was in all respects tl 
situation west of the Alleghanies. We found man 
walks among the broken forest glades around^ ]\; 
which, together with a morning and evening enjoy 
the effects of a glowing horizon on the river, enabl 
wait patiently for the boat that was to bear us away 



OF THE AMERICANS 

'' CHAPTEE IV 

''^lyeparture from Memplm-OJdo River-Louis- 
l: ville — Cincinnati 

ON 'the 1st of February, 1828, we ^'^-'^^'^ °" ^^^^^tf 
Criterion, and once more began to float on the father ot 
waters/' as the poor banished Indians were wont to call the 
Tt •„„) The company on board was wonderfully like 

S we^^d met inTomfng from New Orleans; I think 
Sev must have all been first cousins; and what was smgu- 
-'%C too, had all arrived at high rank in the army. 
^If--^' man; ! wearisome mile above the Wolf River the only 
fl-i-»Twas still forest-forest-forest; the only variety 
The produced by the receding of the river at some pomts, 
kablsCetcroaching on the opposite shore. These changes 
F h- ontlnually gofng on, but from what cause none could 
t--' factorily explain to me. Where the river is^encroach- 
i^<J ^^^the trees are seen growing in water many feet deep 
[■•^^t ^- some time, the water undermines their roots and they 
'^'''"■' me the easy victims of the first hurricane that blows. 
W ^"^ is one source of the immense quantities of drift wood 
P-f , float into the gulf of Mexico. Where the river has 
;*"* ^Hed a young growth of cane-brake is soon seen startmg 
^g '^l ith the rapid vegetation of the climate; these two eir- 
^V^** 'tances in some degree relieve the sameness of the thou- 
i ^ ^^ ■■miles of vegetable wall. But we are now approaching 
r'''^^ •"' ver which is emphatically called "the beautiful. La 
aken suc_,.^^^ ^^ ^1^^ New Orleans French; and a few days 
ad exper ^^^ ^^^ out of that murky stream which 

il^P^^^ KUatically called "the deadly;" and well does it seem 
!er sister ./^^^ ^.^j^. ^^^ ^j^ of its shores is mephitic, and it is 
ame awai '^ nothing that ever sunk beneath its muddy surtace 
l^as too h 3X 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

was known to rise again. As truly does "La Belle Riviere" 
deserve its name; the Ohio is bright and elear; its banks are 
contmua ly varied, as it flows through what is called a roU^' 
mg country, which seems to mean a district that cannot show 

IrZZ^r' ^"'' ^■""""'^ '' ^ *™«- The prima^vai"- 
forest still occupies a considerable portion of the groun :fJ 
and hangs m solemn grandeur from the clilFs: but it Zf 

the7h^^^'^^"* f t'^-^^"*^' ^^^e we were cheered by ^ ' 
the sight of herds and flocks. I imagine that this river pre " 
sents almost every variety of river scenery; sometimes its ' 

bounded by perpendicular rocks; pretty dwellings, w^^"' . 
their gay porticos are seen, alternately with wild interv*??^^ 
of forest where the tangled bear-brake plainly enoug'i^"=- 
dicates what inhabitants are native there. Often a mo'' i 



tain torrent comes pouring its silver tribute to the strear*^ 
and were there occasionally a ruined abbey, or feudal east'f ? , 
to mix the romance of real life with that of nature, the O; ^ s\ 
would be perfect. t o^ 1 

So powerful was the effect of this sweet scenery, that V ,''* 

ceased to grumble at our dinners and suppers f nay, ^J'^' 

almost learnt to rival our neighbours at table in their vor,'"* 

cious rapidity of swallowing, so eager were we to place or^' 

selves agam on the guard, lest we might lose sight of 'X"'. 

beauty that was passing away from us. ^ /^: 

Yet these fair shores are still unhealthy. More than %'*'* 

we landed, and conversed with the families of the r V °''J 

cutters, and scarcely was there one in which we did no*e.*>';^ 

of some member who had "lately died of the fever "_?e^ '^'t'^ 

are all subject to ague, and though their dwellings ""i >""* 

finitely better than those on the Mississippi, the inh^^bj^^^ 

still look like a race that are selling their lives for g.'> .' 

Lomsville is a considerable town, prettily situatf^tT'^^' .,. . 
Kentucky, or south side of the Ohio; we spent sc^^^^^ "'**'"* 



82 ' ^^^" "^ 



OF THE AMERICANS 

in seeing all it had to show; and had I not been told that a 

fbad fever often rages there during the warm season^ I should 

liave liked to pass some months there for the purpose of 

^exploring the beautiful country in its vicinity. Frankfort 

nd Lexington are both towns worth visiting, though from 

*ieir being out of the way places, I never got to either. The 

.irst is the seat of the state government of Kentucky, and 

he last is, I was told, the residence of several independent 

families, who, with more leisure than is usually enjoyed in 

America, have its natural accompaniment, more refinement. 

The falls of the Ohio are about a mile below Louisville, 

^ TDroduce a rapid, too sudden for the boats to pass, except 

e rainy season. The passengers are obliged to get out 

V them, and travel by land to Louisville, where they 

other vessels ready to receive them for the remainder 

Qe voyage. We were spared this inconvenience by the 

being too high for the rapid to be much felt, and it 

soon be altogether removed by the Louisville canal com- 

'■'^ operation, which will permit the steam bDats to 

"" . ;ir progress from below the falls to the town. 

pi ery on the Kentucky side is much finer than on 

liana, or Ohio. The state of Kentucky was the 

ot of many tribes of Indians, and was reserved 

im as a common hunting ground; it is said that 

'^et name it without emotion, and that they have 

Id lament that they still chaunt to its memory. 

lusion thence is of no recent date ; Kentucky has 

ttled than the Illinois, Indiana, or Ohio, and it 

ly more highly cultivated, but more fertile 

resque than either. I have rarely seen richer 

hose of Kentucky. The forest trees, where 

1, are of magnificent growth, and the crops 

abundant where the thriftless husbandry has 

e soil by an unvarying succession of exhaust- 

33 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

■ .,„„s We were shown ground which had borne abun- 
uig crops, we we & successive years; but a 

'th:rter peStffices tTexhU the ground, if it were 
Tade to pro/uce tobacco without the intern.iss.on of som< 

"'we'reaehed Cincinnati on the 10th of February. It^. 
We reaenea ^ ^^^,. ^^^^^ „tij 

finely situated °" */ .^"f^V s by no means a city of strik 
from the water s Jge . 7 * >t^« J ^^^ ^^^^^^^^, ^^ 

ing appearance, it wants <i^ ' ^^^^ ^ q„ar- 

its landing-place is noble, extenamg i 

Its lanmi g p ^^ surrounded by neat 

ter of a mile; it is well pa , 

a,;irTors:«^^^^ 

"On'arriving we repaired to the Washington^Hotel, 
tho^rUlves fortunate ^^en ^ ^ ^ol^a^^^^^^^ 

Eir-ror d^:; r^eXettreated with a f eelin 
d smay at seeing between sixty and seventy .lue.^" 
Se.' We took our dinner with the fema e.„ ^^^, 
and then went forth to seek a house ,^^^^, 

'ZT:':^io\^e office of an advertising a,,, 
fesTed to keep a register of all s.eh^nfo™a.. 
scribed the dwelling we wanted. He made no 
told us his boy should be our g-^e th ough 
show us what we sought; we aeeordingly set ' 
and he led us up one ^^-^t, and down an her 
without any determinate object; I therelo 
Isked him whereabout the houses were whicl 



to see 



see 1 

"I am looking for bills," was hj^ reply- 
I though we could have looked for bills 
him, and I told him so; upon which he ass 



^ 



OF THE AMERICANS 

great activity, and began knocking regularly at every door 
we passed, inquiring if the house was to be let. It was 
hnpossible to endure this long, and our guide was dismissed, 
though I was afterwards obliged to pay him a dollar for 
lis services. 

We had the good fortune, however, to find a dwelling 
Defore long, and we returned to our hotel, having deter- 
mined upon taking possession of it as soon as it could be 
^ot ready. Not wishing to take our evening meal either 
with the three score and ten gentlemen of the dining-room, 
tior yet with the half dozen ladies of the bar-room, I ordered 
;ea in my own chamber. A good-humoured Irish woman 
came forward with a sort of patronising manner, took my 
[land, and said, " Och, my honey, yell be from the old coun- 
ty. I'll see you will have your tay all to yourselves, honey." 
With this assurance we retired to my room, which was a 
handsome one as to its size and bed-furniture, but it had 
no carpet, and was darkened by blinds of paper, such as 
rooms are hung with, which require to be rolled up, and then 
fastened with strings very awkwardly attached to the win- 
dow-frames, whenever light or air were wished for. I after- 
wards met with these same uncomfortable blinds in every 
part of America. 

Our Irish friend soon reappeared, and brought us tea, 
together with the never-failing accompaniments of American 
tea-drinking, hung beef, "chipped up" raw, and sundry 
sweetmeats of brown-sugar hue and flavour. We took our 
tea, and were enjoying our family talk, relative to our 
future arrangements, when a loud sharp knocking was heard 
at our door. My "come in" was answered by the appear- 
ance of a portly personage, who proclaimed himself our 
landlord. 

"Are any of you ill.^" he began. 

"No, thank you, sir ; we are all quite well," was my reply. 

35 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

"Then, madam, I must tell you, that I cannot accommo- 
date you on these terms; we have no family tea-drinkings 
here, and you must live either vrith me or my wife, or not 
at all in my house." 

This was said with an air of authority that almost pre- 
cluded reply, but I ventured a sort of apologistic hint, that 
we were strangers, and unaccustomed to the manners of the 
country. 

"Our manners are very good manners, and we don't wish 
any changes from England." 

I thought of mine host of the Washington afterwards, 
when reading Scott's "Anne of Geierstein"; he, in truth, 
strongly resembled the inn-keeper therein immortalized, who 
made his guests eat, drink, and sleep, just where, when, and 
how he pleased. I made no further remonstrance, but de- 
termined to hasten my removal. This we achieved the next 
day to our great satisfaction. 

We were soon settled in our new dwelling, which looked 
neat and comfortable enough, but we speedily found that it 
was devoid of nearly all the accommodation that Europeans 
conceive necessary to decency and comfort. No pump, no 
cistern, no drain of any kind, no dustman's cart, or any other 
visible means of getting rid of the rubbish, which vanishes 
with such celerity in London, that one has no time to think 
of its existence; but which accumulated so rapidly at Cin- 
cinnati, that I sent for my landlord to know in what man- 
ner refuse of all kinds was to be disposed of. 

"Your Help will just have to fix them all into the middle 
of the street, but you must mind, old woman, that it is the 
middle. I expect you don't know as we have got a law what 
forbids throwing such things at the sides of the streets; 
they must just all be cast right into the middle, and the 
pigs soon takes them off." 

In truth the pigs are constantly seen doing Herculean 

36 



OF THE AMERICANS 

service in this way through every quarter of the city; and 
though it is not very agreeable to live surrounded by herds 
of these unsavoury animals, it is well they are so numerous^ 
and so active in their capacity of scavengers, for without 
them the streets would soon be choked up with all sorts of 
substances, in every stage of decomposition. 

We had heard so much of Cincinnati, its beauty, wealth, 
and unequalled prosperity, that when we left Memphis to 
go thither, we almost felt the delight of Rousseau's novice, 
"un voyage a faire, et Paris au bout !" — As soon, therefore, 
as our little domestic arrangements were completed, we set 
forth to view this "wonder of the west," this "prophet's 
gourd of magic growth," — this "infant Hercules;" and 
surely no travellers ever paraded a city under circumstances 
more favourable to their finding it fair to the sight. Three 
dreary months had elapsed since we had left the glories of 
London behind us; for nearly the whole of that time we 
had beheld no other architecture than what our ship and 
steam boats had furnished, and excepting at New Orleans, 
had seen hardly a trace of human habitations. The sight 
of bricks and mortar was really refreshing, and a house of 
three stories looked splendid. Of this splendour we saw 
repeated specimens, and moreover a brick church, which, 
from its two little peaked spires, is called the two-horned 
church. But, alas ! the flatness of reality after the imagi- 
nation has been busy! I hardly know what I expected to 
And in this city, fresh risen from the bosom of the wilder- 
ness, but certainly it was but a little town, about the size of 
Salisbury, without even an attempt at beauty in any of its 
edifices, and with only just enough of the air of a city to 
make it noisy and bustling. The population is greater than 
the appearance of the town would lead one to expect. This 
is partly owing to the number of free Negroes who herd 
together in an obscure part of the city, called little Africa ; 

37 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

and partly to the density of the population round the paper- 
mills and other manufactories. I believe the number of 
inhabitants exceeds twenty thousand. 

We arrived in Cincinnati in February^ 1828, and I speak 
of the town as it was then ; several small churches have been 
built since, whose towers agreeably relieve its uninteresting 
mass of buildings. At that time I think Main-street, which 
is the principal avenue (and runs through the whole town, 
answering to the High-street of our old cities), was the only 
one entirely paved. The trottoir is of brick, tolerably well 
laid, but it is inundated by every shower, as Cincinnati has 
no drains whatever. What makes this omission the more 
remarkable is, that the situation of the place is calculated 
both to facilitate their construction and to render them 
necessary. Cincinnati is built on the side of a hill that 
begins to rise at the river's edge, and were it furnished with 
drains of the simplest arrangement, the heavy showers of 
the climate would keep them constantly clean ; as it is, these 
showers wash the higher streets, only to deposit their filth 
on the first level spot; and this happens to be in the street 
second in importance to Main-street, running at right 
angles to it, and containing most of the large warehouses 
of the town. This deposit is a dreadful nuisance, and must 
be productive of miasma during the hot weather. 

The town is built, as I believe most American towns are, 
in squares, as they call them; but these squares are the re- 
verse of ours, being solid instead of hollow. Each consists, 
or is intended to consist, when the plan of the city is com- 
pleted, of a block of buildings fronting north, east, west, 
and south; each house communicating with an alley, fur- 
nishing a back entrance. This plan would not be a bad one, 
were the town properly drained, but as it is, these alleys are 
horrible abominations, and must, I conceive, become worse 
with every passing year. 

38 



OF THE AMERICANS 

To the north Cincinnati is bounded by a range of forest- 
covered hills, sufficiently steep and rugged to prevent their 
being built upon, or easily cultivated, but not sufficiently 
high to command from their summits a view of any consid- 
erable extent. Deep and narrow water-courses, dry in sum- 
mer, but bringing down heavy streams in winter, divide these 
hills into many separate heights, and this furnishes the 
only variety the landscape offers for many miles round the 
town. The lovely Ohio is a beautiful feature wherever it is 
visible; but the only part of the city that has the advan- 
tage of its beauty, is the street nearest to its bank. The 
hills of Kentucky, which rise at about the same distance from 
the river, on the opposite side, form the southern boundary 
to the basin in which Cincinnati is built. 

On first arriving, I thought the many tree-covered hills 
around very beautiful, but long before my departure, I felt 
so weary of the confined view, that Salisbury Plain would 
have been an agreeable variety. I doubt if any inhabitant 
of Cincinnati ever mounted these hills so often as myself 
and my children; but it was rather for the enjoyment of a 
freer air, than for any beauty of prospect, that we took our 
daily climb. These hills afford neither shrubs nor flowers, 
but furnish the finest specimens of millepore in the world; 
and the water-courses are full of fossil productions. 

The forest trees are neither large nor well grown, and so 
close as to be nearly knotted together at top ; even the wild 
vine here loses its beauty, for its graceful festoons bear 
leaves only when they reach the higher branches of the tree 
that supports them, both air and light being too scantily 
found below to admit of their doing more than climbing 
with a bare stem till they reach a better atmosphere. The 
herb we call pennyroyal was the only one I found in abun- 
dance, and that only on the brows, where the ground had 
been partially cleared; vegetation is impossible elsewhere, 

39 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

and it is this circumstance which makes the "eternal for- 
ests" of America so detestable. Near New Orleans the 
undergrowth of palmetto and pawpaw is highly beautiful^ 
but in Tennessee^ Indiana^ and Ohio, I never found the 
slightest beauty in the forest scenery. Fallen trees in every 
possible stage of decay, and congeries of leaves that have 
been rotting since the flood, cover the ground and infect the 
air. The beautiful variety of foliage afforded by evergreens 
never occurs, and in Tennessee, and that part of Ohio that 
surrounds Cincinnati, even the sterile beauty of rocks is 
wanting. On crossing the water to Kentucky the scene is 
greatly improved; beech and chestnut, of magnificent 
growth, border the beautiful river ; the ground has been well 
cleared, and the herbage is excellent: the pawpaw grows 
abundantly, and is a splendid shrub, though it bears neither 
fruit nor flowers so far north. The noble tulip-tree flour- 
ishes here, and blooms profusely. 

The river Licking flows into the Ohio nearly opposite Cin- 
cinnati; it is a pretty winding stream, and two or three 
miles from its mouth has a brisk rapid, dancing among white 
stones, which, in the absence of better rocks, we found very 
picturesque. 



40 



CHAPTER V 
Cincinnati— Forest Farm— Mr, Bulloch 

'hough I do not quite sympathize with those who consider 
lincinnati as one of the wonders of the earth, I certainly 
link it a city of extraordinary size and importance, when 
• is remembered that thirty years ago the aboriginal forest 
ccupied the ground where it stands; and every month 
ppears to extend its limits and its wealth. 

Some of the native political economists assert, that this 
apid conversion of a bear-brake into a prosperous city is 
he result of free political institutions; not being very deep 
n such matters, a more obvious cause suggested itself to 
16, in the unceasing goad which necessity applies to in- 
lustry in this country, and in the absence of all resource 
or the idle. During nearly two years that I resided in 
'Cincinnati, or its neighbourhood, I neither saw a beggar, 
tor a man of sufficient fortune to permit his ceasing his 
efforts to increase it; thus every bee in the hive is actively 
employed in search of that honey of Hybla, vulgarly called 
boney; neither art, science, learning, nor pleasure, can 
educe them from its pursuit. This unity of purpose, 
jacked by the spirit of enterprise, and joined with an 
kcuteness, and absence of probity, where interest is con- 
cerned, which might set canny Yorkshire at defiance, may 
Well go far towards obtaining its purpose. 

The low rate of taxation, too, unquestionably permits 
a more rapid accumulation of individual wealth than with 
lis; but till I had travelled through America, I had no idea 
how much of the money collected in taxes returns among 
the people, not only in the purchase of what their industry 
furnishes, but in the actual enjoyment of what is furnished. 

41 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

Were I an English legislator^ instead of sending Sedition 
to the Tower^ I would send her to make a tour of the United 
States. I had a little leaning towards sedition myself when 
I set out^ but before I had half completed my tour I was 
quite cured. l| 

I have read much of the "few and simple wants of 
rational man^" and I used to give a sort of dreamy acquies- 
cence to the reasoning that went to prove each added want 
an added woe. Those who reason in a comfortable London i 
drawing-room know little about the matter. Were the ali- 
ments which sustain life all that we wanted, the faculties 
of the hog might suffice us; but if we analyze an hour of 
enjoyment, we shall find that it is made up of agreeable 
sensations occasioned by a thousand delicate impressions on 
almost as many nerves; where these nerves are sluggish 
from never having been awakened, external objects are less 
important, for they are less perceived; but where the whole 
machine of the human frame is in full activity, where every 
sense brings home to consciousness its touch of pleasure or 
of pain, then every object that meets the senses is impor- 
tant as a vehicle of happiness or misery. But let no frames 
so tempered visit the United States ; or if they do, let it be 
with no longer pausing than will store the memory with 
images, which, by the force of contrast, shall sweeten the 
future. 

"Guarda e passa (e poi) ragioniam di lor/* 

The "simple" manner of living in Western America was 
more distasteful to me from its levelling effects on the 
manners of the people, than from the personal privations 
that it rendered necessary ; and yet, till I was without them, 
I was in no degree aware of the many pleasurable sensa- 
tions derived from the little elegances and refinements en- 
joyed by the middle classes in Europe. There were many 

42 



1^ 



OF THE AMERICANS 

ircumstances, too trifling even for my gossiping pages, 
rhich pressed themselves daily and hourly upon us, and 
rhich forced us to remember painfully that we were not 
t home. It requires an abler pen than mine to trace the 
Annexion which I am persuaded exists between these de- 
iciencies and the minds and manners of the people. All 
nimal wants are supplied profusely at Cincinnati, and at 
, very easy rate ; but, alas ! these go but a little way in the 
listory of a day's enjoyment. The total and universal want 
f manners, both in males and females, is so remarkable, 
at I was constantly endeavouring to account for it. It 
ertainly does not proceed from want of intellect. I have 
istened to much dull and heavy conversation in America, 
)ut rarely to any that I could strictly call silly (if I except 
llhe every where privileged class of very young ladies), 
'rhey appear to me to have clear heads and active intellects ; 
ire more ignorant on subjects that are only of conventional 
blue, than on such as are of intrinsic importance ; but there 
is no charm, no grace in their conversation. I very seldom, 
luring my whole stay in the country, heard a sentence 
elegantly turned, and correctly pronounced from the lips 
)f an American. There is always something either in the 
xpression or the accent that jars the feelings and shocks 
;he taste. 

I will not pretend to decide whether man is better or 
ivorse off for requiring refinement in the manners and cus- 
toms of the society that surrounds him, and for being in- 
capable of enjoyment without them; but in America, that 
Dolish which removes the coarser and rougher parts of our 
lature, is unknown and undreamed of. There is much sub- 
stantial comfort, and some display in the larger cities; in 
many of the more obvious features they are as Paris or as 
London, being all large assemblies of active and intelligent 
human beings — but yet they are wonderfully unlike in 

43 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

nearly all their moral features. Now God forbid that any 
reasonable American (of whom there are so many millions) jl 
should ever come to ask me what I mean; I should find it 
very difficult, nay, perhaps, utterly impossible, to explain 
myself; but, on the other hand, no European who has 
visited the Union, will find the least difficulty in under-!| 
standing me. I am in no way competent to judge of thei; 
political institutions of America; and if I should occasion- 
ally make an observation on their effects, as they meet my^ 
superficial glance, they will be made in the spirit and with; 
the feeling of a woman, who is apt to tell what her first! 
impressions may be, but unapt to reason back from effects. 
to their causes. Such observations, if they be unworthy of i 
much attention, are also obnoxious to little reproof: but 
there are points of national peculiarity of which women, 
may judge as ably as men,— all that constitutes the external 
of society may be fairly trusted to us. 

Captain Hall, when asked what appeared to him to con- * 
stitute the greatest difference between England and Amer- 
ica, replied, like a gallant sailor, **the want of loyalty.*' j 
Were the same question put to me, I should answer^ "the 
want of refinement." 

Were Americans, indeed, disposed to assume the plain 
unpretending deportment of the Switzer in the days of his i 
picturesque simplicity (when, however, he never chewed ll 
tobacco), it would be in bad taste to censure him; but this 
is not the case. Jonathan will be a fine gentleman, but it 
must be in his own way. Is he not a free-born American? 
Jonathan, however, must remember, that if he will chal- !] 
lenge competition with the old world, the old world will now ! 
and then look out to see how he supports his pretensions. 
With their hours of business, whether judicial or mer- 
cantile, civil or military, I have nothing to do; I doubt not 
they are all spent wisely and profitably; but what are the 

44 



OF THE AMERICANS 

ours of recreation? Those hours that with us are passed 
a the enjoyment of all that art can win from nature; when^ 

Ethe elaborate repast be more deeply relished than sages 
ight approve^ it is redeemed from sensuality by the pres- 
nce of elegance and beauty. What is the American pend- 
nt to this ? I will not draw any comparisons between 

good dinner party in the two countries; I have heard 
Imerican gentlemen say^ that they could perceive no differ- 
nce between them; but in speaking of general manners^ I 
nay observe, that it is rarely they dine in society, except 
;Q taverns and boarding-houses. Then they eat with the 
greatest possible rapidity, and in total silence; I have heard 
t said by American ladies, that the hours of greatest en- 
oyment to the gentlemen were those in which a glass of 
jin cock-tail, or egg-nog, receives its highest relish from 
he absence of all restraint whatever; and when there were 
10 ladies to trouble them. 

I Notwithstanding all this, the country is a very fine 
buntry, well worth visiting for a thousand reasons; nine 
mndred and ninety-nine of these are reasons founded on 
idmiration and respect ; the thousandth is, that we shall feel 
he more contented with our own. The more unlike a 
pountry through which we travel is to all we have left, the 
nore we are likely to be amused; every thing in Cincinnati 
lad this newness, and I should have thought it a place 
lelightful to visit, but to tarry there was not to feel at home. 

My home, however, for a time it was to be. We heard 
)n every side, that of all the known places on "the globe 
jailed earth," Cincinnati was the most favourable for a 
roung man to settle in; and I only awaited the arrival of 
Mr. T. to fix our son there, intending to continue with him 
ill he should feel himself sufficiently established. We 
iccordingly determined upon making ourselves as com- 
fortable as possible. I took a larger house, which, however, 

45 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

I did not obtain without considerable difficulty^ as, notwith- 
standing fourteen hundred new dwellings had been erected 
the preceding year, the demand for houses greatly ex- 
ceeded the supply. We became acquainted with several 
amiable people, and we beguiled the anxious interval that 
preceded Mr. T.'s joining us, by frequent excursions in the 
neighbourhood, which not only afforded us amusement, but 
gave us an opportunity of observing the mode of life of the^ 
country people. 

We visited one farm which interested us particularly from 
its wild and lonely situation, and from the entire dependence 
of the inhabitants upon their own resources. It was a 
partial clearing in the very heart of the forest. The house 
was built on the side of a hill, so steep that a high ladder 
was necessary to enter the front door, while the back one 
opened against the hillside; at the foot of this sudden emi- 
nence ran a clear stream, whose bed had been deepened into 
a little reservoir, just opposite the house. A noble field of 
Indian-corn stretched away into the forest on one side, and 
a few half-cleared acres, with a shed or two upon them, 
occupied the other, giving accommodation to cows, horses, 
pigs, and chickens innumerable. Immediately before the 
house was a small potato garden, with a few peach and 
apple trees. The house was built of logs, and consisted of 
two rooms, besides a little shanty or lean-to, that was used 
as a kitchen. Both rooms were comfortably furnished with 
good beds, drawers, &c. The farmer's wife, and a young 
woman who looked like her sister, were spinning, and three 
little children were playing about. The woman told me 
that they spun and wove all the cotton and woollen gar- 
ments of the family, and knit all the stockings; her hus- 
band, though not a shoemaker by trade, made all the shoes. 
She manufactured all the soap and candles they used, and 
prepared her sugar from the sugar-trees on their farm. 

46 



OF THE AMERICANS 

i 

Ul she wanted with money, she said, was to buy coffee, 
ea, and whiskey, and she could "get enough any day by 
ending a batch of butter and chicken to market." They 
ised no wheat, nor sold any of their corn, which, though 
t appeared a very large quantity, was not more than they 
•equired to make their bread and cakes of various kinds, 
md to feed all their live stock during the winter. She did 
lot look in health, and said they had all had ague in "the 
'all;" but she seemed contented, and proud of her inde- 
Dcndence; though it was in somewhat a mournful accent 
,hat she said, " 'Tis strange to us to see company: I expect 
;he sun may rise and set a hundred times before I shall 
jee another human that does not belong to the family/* 

I have been minute in the description of this forest farm, 
IS I think it the best specimen I saw of the back-wood's 
ndependence, of which so much is said in America. These 
Dcople were indeed independent, Robinson Crusoe was 
lardly more so, and they eat and drink abundantly; but 
vet it seemed to me that there was something awful and al- 
nost unnatural in their loneliness. No village bell ever 
mmmoned them to prayer, where they might meet the 
friendly greeting of their fellow-men. When they die, 
(ao spot sacred by ancient reverence will receive their bones 

-Religion will not breathe her sweet and solemn fare- 
well upon their grave; the husband or the father will dig 
bhe pit that is to hold them, beneath the nearest tree; "he 
Ivvill himself deposit them within it, and the wind that whis- 
pers through the boughs will be their only requiem. But 
then they pay neither taxes nor tythes, are never expected 
to pull off a hat or to make a curtsey, and will live and die 
without hearing or uttering the dreadful words, "God save 
the king." 

******** 

About two miles below Cincinnati, on the Kentucky side 

47 



DOMESTIC MANNEKS 

of the river^ Mr. Bullock, the well-known proprietor of the 
Egyptian Hall, has bought a large estate, with a noble house 
upon it. He and his amiable wife were devoting themselves 
to the embellishment of the house and grounds; and cer- 
tainly there is more taste and art lavished on one of their 
beautiful saloons, than all Western America can show else- 
where. It is impossible to help feeling that Mr. Bullock^ 
is rather out of his element in this remote spot, and the 
gems of art he has brought with him, show as strangely 
there, as would a bower of roses in Siberia, or a Cincinnati; 
fashionable at Almack's. The exquisite beauty of the spot/, 
commanding one of the finest reaches of the Ohio, the ex- 
tensive gardens, and the large and handsome mansion, have^ 
tempted Mr. Bullock to spend a large sum in the purchase 
of this place, and if any one who has passed his life in 
London could endure such a change, the active mind and 
sanguine spirit of Mr. Bullock might enable him to do it; 
but his frank, and truly English hospitality, and his en- 
lightened and inquiring mind, seemed sadly wasted there. 
I have since heard with pleasure that Mr. Bullock has 
parted with this beautiful, but secluded mansion, 



48 



CHAPTER VI 

Servants — Socie ty — Evening Parties 

HE greatest difficulty in organizing a family establishment 
I Ohio_, is getting servants, or, as it is there called, "getting 
elp/' for it is more than petty treason to the Republic to 

11 a free citizen a servant. The whole class of young 
omen, whose bread depends upon their labour, are taught 
> believe that the most abject poverty is preferable to 
pmestic service. Hundreds of half-naked girls work in 
lie paper-mills, or in any other manufactory, for less than 
alf the wages they would receive in service ; but they think 
leir equality is compromised by the latter, and nothing 
lit the wish to obtain some particular article of finery will 
S^er induce them to submit to it. A kind friend, however, 
certed herself so effectually for me, that a tall stately 
Lss soon presented herself, saying, "I be come to help you." 
he intelligence was very agreeable, and I welcomed her in 
le most gracious manner possible, and asked what I should 
ive her by the year. 

"Oh Gimini !" exclaimed the damsel, with a loud laugh, 
you be a downright Englisher, sure enough. I should like 
) see a young lady engage by the year in America ! I hope 

shall get a husband before many months, or I expect I 
lall be an outright old maid, for I be most seventeen al- 
ady; besides, mayhap I may want to go to school. You 
lUst just give me a dollar and a half a week, and mother's 
ave, Phillis, must come over once a week, I expect, from 
jother side the water to help me clean." 

I agreed to the bargain, of course, with all dutiful sub- 
mission; and seeing she was preparing to set to work in a 
ellow dress parseme with red roses, I gently hinted, that 

49 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

I thought it was a pity to spoil so fine a gown^ and that sh 
had better change it. 

" 'Tis just my best and my worst/' she answered, "fo 
I've got no other." 

And in truth I found that this young lady had left thi 
paternal mansion with no more clothes of any kind thai 
what she had on. I immediately gave her money to pun: 
chase what was necessary for cleanliness and decency, anc 
set to work with my daughters to make her a gown. Sh( 
grinned applause when our labor was completed, but nevei 
uttered the slightest expression of gratitude for that, oi 
for any thing else we could do for her. She was coni 
stantly asking us to lend her different articles of dress, anc 
when we declined it, she said, "Well, I never seed sucli 
grumpy folks as you be; there is several young ladies oi 
my acquaintance what goes to live out now and then with 
the old women about the town, and they and their gurls 
always lends them what they asks for; I guess you Inglish 
thinks we should poison your things, just as bad as if 
we was Negurs." And here I beg to assure the reader, that 
whenever I give conversations they were not made a loisir, 
but were written down immediately after they occurred, with 
all the verbal fidelity my memory permitted. 

This young lady left me at the end of two months, be- 
cause I refused to lend her money enough to buy a silk! 
dress to go to a ball, saying, "Then 'tis not worth my while 
to stay any longer.'* 

I cannot imagine it possible that such a state of things 
can be desirable, or beneficial to any of the parties con- 
cerned. I might occupy a hundred pages on the subject,; 
and yet fail to give an adequate idea of the sore, angry, 
ever wakeful pride that seemed to torment these poor 
wretches. In many of them it was so excessive, that all 
feeling of displeasure, or even of ridicule, was lost in pity. 

50 



OF THE AMERICANS 

e of these was a pretty girl^ whose natural disposition 
nust have been gentle and kind; but her good feelings 
vera soured, and her gentleness turned to morbid sensi- 
tiveness, by having heard a thousand and a thousand times 
fhat she was as good as any other lady, that all men were 
^ual, and women too, and that it was a sin and a shame 
For a free-born American to be treated like a servant. 
l| When she found she was to dine in the kitchen, she 
l:urned up her pretty lip, and said, "I guess that's 'cause 
fon don't think I'm good enough to eat with you. You'll 
iind that won't do here." I found afterwards that she 
rarely ate any dinner at all, and generally passed the time 
n tears. I did everything in my power to conciliate and 
make her happy, but I am sure she hated me. I gave her 
»^ery high wages, and she staid till she had obtained several 
expensive articles of dress, and then, un beau matin, she 
:ame to me full dressed, and said, "I must go." — "When 
ihall you return, Charlotte?" — "I expect you'll see no more 
t)f me." And so we parted. Her sister was also living with 
[ne, but her wardrobe was not yet completed, and she re- 
[nained some weeks longer, till it was. 

I I fear it may be called bad taste to say so much concern- 
ing my domestics, but, nevertheless, the circumstances are 
so characteristic of America that I must recount another 
history relating to them. A few days after the departure 
of my ambitious belle, my cries for "Help" had been so 
effectual that another young lady presented herself, with 
the usual preface "I'm come to help you." I had been cau- 
tioned never to ask for a reference for character, as it 
would not only rob me of that help, but entirely prevent 
my ever getting another; so, five minutes after she entered 
she was installed, bundle and all, as a member of the fam- 
ily. She was by no means handsome, but there was an 
lair of simple frankness in her manner that won us all. For 

51 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

my own part^ I thought I had got a second Jeanie Deans;' 
for she recounted to me histories of her early youth, wherein 
her plain good sense and strong mind had enabled her to 
win her way through a host of cruel step-mothers, faithless 
lovers, and cheating brothers. Among other things, she 
told me, with the appearance of much emotion, that she 
had found, since she came to town, a cure for all her sor- 
rows. "Thanks and praise for it, I have got religion!" 
and then she asked if I would spare her to go to Meeting 
every Tuesday and Thursday evening; "You shall not have 
to want me, Mrs. TroUope, for our minister knows that we 
have all our duties to perform to man, as well as to God, 
and he makes the Meeting late in the evening that they may 
not cross one another." Who could refuse? Not I, and 
Nancy had leave to go to Meeting two evenings in the 
week, besides Sundays. 

One night, that the mosquitoes had found their way under 
my net, and prevented my sleeping, I heard some one enter 
the house very late; I got up, went to the top of the stairs, 
and, by the help of a bright moon, recognized Nancy's best 
bonnet. I called to her; "You are very late," said I, "what 
is the reason of it?" "Oh, Mrs. Trollope," she replied, "I 
am late, indeed! We have this night had seventeen souls 
added to our flock. May they live to bless this night ! But 
it has been a long sitting, and very warm; I'll just take a 
drink of water, and get to bed; you shan't find me later in 
the morning for it." Nor did I. She was an excellent serv- 
ant, and performed more than was expected from her; 
moreover, she always found time to read the Bible several 
times in the day, and I seldom saw her occupied about 
any thing without observing that she had placed it near her. 

At last she fell sick with the cholera, and her life was 
despaired of. I nursed her with great care, and sat up 
the greatest part of two nights with her. She was often 

52 



OF THE AMERICANS 

delirious, and all her wandering thoughts seemed to ramble 
to heaven. "I have been a sinner/' she said, "but I am 
safe in the Lord Jesus." When she recovered, she asked me 
to let her go into the country for a few days, to change 
the air, and begged me to lend her three dollars. 
j While she was absent a lady called on me, and inquired, 
kith some agitation, if my servant, Nancy Fletcher, were 
;at home. I replied that she was gone in the country. 
"Thank God," she exclaimed, "never let her enter your 
doors affain, she is the most abandoned woman in the town : 
1^ gentleman who knows you, has been told that she lives 
|with you, and that she boasts of having the power of enter- 
ing your house at any hour of the night." She told me 
many other circumstances, unnecessary to repeat, but all 
tending to prove that she was a very dangerous inmate. 

I expected her home the next evening, and I believe I 
passed the interval in meditating how to get rid of her 
without an eclair cissement. At length she arrived, and all 
my study having failed to supply me with any other reason 
than the real one for dismissing her, I stated it at once. 
Not the slightest change passed over her countenance, but 
she looked steadily at me, and said, in a very civil tone, "I 
should like to know who told you." I replied that it could 
be of no advantage to her to know, and that I wished her 
I to go immediately. "I am ready to go," she said, in the 
J same quiet tone, "but what will you do for your three dol- 
lars?" "I must do without them, Nancy; good morning 
to you." "I must just put up my things," she said, and 
left the room. About half an hour afterwards, when we 
were all assembled at dinner, she entered with her usual 
civil composed air, "Well, I am come to wish you all good 
ji bye," and with a friendly good-humored smile she left us. 
j This adventure frightened me so heartily, that notwith- 
I standing I had the dread of cooking my own dinner before 

53 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

my eyes, I would not take any more young ladies into mjl 
family without receiving some slight sketch of their f ormei ' 
history. At length I met with a very worthy French woman, 
and soon after with a tidy English girl to assist her ; and 1 
had the good fortune to keep them till a short time before 
my departure: so, happily, I have no more misfortunes of 
this nature to relate. 

Such being the difficulties respecting domestic arrange- 
ments, it is obvious, that the ladies who are brought up) 
amongst them cannot have leisure for any great develop- 1 
ment of the mind: it is, in fact, out of the question; and, 
remembering this, it is more surprising that some among 
them should be very pleasing, than that none should be: 
highly instructed. -mi 

Had I passed as many evenings in company in any others 
town that I ever visited as I did in Cincinnati, I should \ 
have been able to give some little account of the conversa- 
tions I had listened to; but, upon reading over my notes, 
and then taxing my memory to the utmost to supply the 
deficiency, I can scarcely find a trace of any thing that 
deserves the name. Such as I have, shall be given in their i 
place. But, whatever may be the talents of the persons I 
who meet together in society, the very shape, form, and l| 
arrangement of the meeting is sufficient to paralyze con- 
versation. The women invariably herd together at one part 
of the room, and the men at the other; but, in justice to ' 
Cincinnati, I must acknowledge that this arrangement is by 
no means peculiar to that city, or to the western side of the 
AUeghanies. Sometimes a small attempt at music produces 
a partial reunion; a few of the most daring youths, ani- 
mated by the consciousness of curled hair and smart waist- 
coats, approach the piano-forte, and begin to mutter a little 
to the half-grown pretty things, who are comparing with 
one another "how many quarters' music they have had." 

54 



OF THE AMERICANS 

/^here the mansion is of sufficient dignity to have two draw- 
ig-rooms, the piano, the little ladies, and the slender gen- 
emen are left to themselves, and on such occasions the 
iund of laughter is often heard to issue from among them, 
ut the fate of the more dignified personages, who are left 
I the other room, is extremely dismal. The gentlemen spit, 
dk of elections and the price of produce, and spit again, 
•he ladies look at each other's dresses till they know every 
in by heart; talk of Parson Somebody's last sermon on 
iie day of judgment, on Dr. T'otherbody's new pills for 
yspepsia, till the "tea" is announced, when they all console 
lemselves together for whatever they may have suffered 
1 keeping awake, by taking more tea, coffee, hot cake and 
astard, hoe cake, johnny cake, waffle cake, and dodger 
ake, pickled peaches, and preserved cucumbers, ham, tur- 
ey, hung beef, apple sauce, and piclded oysters, than ever 
^ere prepared in any other country of the known world. 
Lfter this massive meal is over, they return to the drawing- 
oom, and it always appeared to me that they remained 
ogether as long as they could bear it, and then they rise 
n masse, cloak, bonnet, shawl, and exit. 



55 



CHAPTER VII 

Market — Museum — Picture Oallery — Academy of 
Fine Arts — Dratuing School — Phrenological So- 
ciety^Miss Wrighfs Lecture 

Perhaps the most advantageous feature in Cincinnati is its 
market,, wliich^ for excellence, abundance, and cheapness, 
can hardly, I should think, be surpassed in any part of the 
world, if I except the luxury of fruits, which are very in- 
ferior to any I have seen in Europe. There are no butchers, 
fishmongers, or indeed any shops for eatables, except bak- 
eries, as they are called, in the town; every thing must be 
purchased at market; and to accomplish this, the busy 
housewife must be stirring betimes, or 'spite of the abun- 
dant supply, she will find her hopes of breakfast, dinner, 
and supper for the day defeated, the market being pretty 
well over by eight o'clock. 

The beef is excellent, and the highest price when we were 
there, four cents (about two-pence) the pound. The mut- 
ton was inferior, and so was veal to the eye, but it ate well, 
though not very fat; the price was about the same. The 
poultry was excellent; fowls or full-sized chickens, ready 
for table, twelve cents, but much less if bought alive, and 
not quite fat; turkeys about fifty-cents, and geese the same. 
The Ohio furnishes several sorts of fish, some of them 
very good, and always to be found cheap and abundant in 
the market. Eggs, butter, nearly all kinds of vegetables, 
excellent, and at moderate prices. From June till Decem- 
ber, tomatoes (the great luxury of the American table in 
the opinion of most Europeans) may be found in the 
highest perfection in the market for about sixpence the 

56 



OF THE amerioa:ns 

peck. Tlicy have a great variety of beans unknown in Eng- 
land_, jjarticularly the lima-bcan_, the seed of which is dressed 
like the French harrico; it furnishes a very abundant crop, 
and is a most delicious vegetable: could it be naturalized 
with us, it would be a valuable acquisition. The Windsor, 
or broad-bean, will not do well there ; Mr. Bullock had them 
in his garden, where they were cultivated with much care; 
they grew about a foot high, and blossomed, but the pod 
never ripened. All the fruit I saw exposed for sale in 
Cincinnati was most miserable. I passed two summers there, 
but never tasted a peach worth eating. Of apricots and 
nectarines I saw none; strawberries very small, rasjDberries 
much worse; gooseberries very few, and quite uneatable; 
currants about half the size of ours, and about double the 
price; grapes too sour for tarts; apples abundant, but very 
indifferent, none that would be thought good enough for 
an English table; pears, cherries, and plums, most miser- 
ably bad. The flowers of these regions were at least equally 
inferior : whether this proceeds from want of cultivation, or 
from peculiarity of soil, I know not, but after leaving Cin- 
cinnati, I was told by a gentleman who appeared to under- 
stand the subject, that the state of Ohio had no indigenous 
" flowers or fruits. The water-melons, which in that warm 
climate furnish a delightful refreshment, were abundant 
and cheap; but all other melons very inferior to those of 
France, or even of England, when ripened in a common 
hot-bed. 

From the almost total want of pasturage near the city, 
it is difficult for a stranger to divine how milk is furnished 
for its supply, but we soon learnt that there are more ways 
I than one of keeping a cow. A large proportion of the fam- 
» ilies in the town, particularly of the poorer class, have one, 
though apparently without any accommodation whatever for 
it. These animals are fed morning and evening, at the door 

57 



DOMESTIC MANNERS | 

of the house, with a good mess of Indian corn, boiled with 
water ; while they eat, they are milked, and when the oper- 
ation is completed, the milk-pail and the meal-tub retreat 
into the dwelling, leaving the republican cow to walk away, 
to take her pleasure on the hills, or in the gutters, as may 
suit her fancy best. They generally return very regularly 
to give and take the morning and evening meal; though 
it more than once happened to us, before we were supplied 
by a regular milk cart, to have our jug sent home empty, 
with the sad news that "the cow was not come home, and il: 
was too late to look for her to breakfast now/' Once, I 
remember, the good woman told us that she had overslept 
herself, and that the cow had come and gone again, "not 
liking, I expect, to hanker about by herself for nothing, 
poor thing." 

Cincinnati has not many lions to boast, but among them 
are two museums of natural history; both of these contain 
many respectable specimens, particularly that of Mr. Dor- 
feuille, who has, moreover, some highly interesting Indian 
antiquities. He is a man of taste and science, but a collec- 
tion formed strictly according to their dictates would by no 
means satisfy the western metropolis. The people have a 
most extravagant passion for wax figures, and the two mu- 
seums vie with each other in displaying specimens of this 
barbarous branch of art. As Mr. Dorfeuille cannot trust to 
his science for attracting the citizens, he has put his inge- 
nuity into requisition, and this has proved to him the surer 
aid of the two. He has constructed a pandaemonium in an 
upper story of his museum, in which he has congregated all 
the images of horror that his fertile fancy could devise; 
dwarfs that by machinery grow into giants before the eyes 
of the spectator; imps of ebony with eyes of flame; mon- 
strous reptiles devouring youth and beauty; lakes of Are, 
and mountains of ice ; in short, wax, paint and springs have 

58 



OP THE AMERICANS 

done wonders. "To give tlie scheme some more effect^" he 
makes it visible only through a grate of massive iron bars, 
among which are arranged wires connected with an elec- 
trical machine in a neighboring chamber ; should any daring 
hand or foot obtrude itself within the bars, it receives a 
smart shock, that often passes through many of the crowd, 
and the cause being unknown, the effect is exceedingly 
comic; terror, astonishment, curiosity, are all set in action, 
and all contribute to make "Dorfeuille's Hell" one of the 
most amusing exhibitions imaginable. 

There is also a picture-gallery at Cincinnati, and this was 
a circumstance of much interest to us, as our friend Mr. H., 
who had accompanied Miss Wright to America, in the expec- 
tation of finding a good opening in the line of historical 
painting, intended commencing his experiment at Cincin- 
nati. It would be invidious to describe the picture gal- 
lery; I have no doubt, that some years hence it will present 
a very different appearance. Mr. H. was very kindly re- 
ceived by many of the gentlemen of the city, and though 
the state of the fine arts there gave him but little hope that 
he should meet with much success, he immediately occupied 
himself in painting a noble historical picture of the landing 
of General Lafayette at Cincinnati. 

Perhaps the clearest proof of the little feeling for art 
that existed at that time in Cincinnati, may be drawn from 
the result of an experiment originated by a German, who 
taught drawing there. He conceived the project of forming 
a chartered academy of fine arts ; and he succeeded in the 
beginning to his utmost wish, or rather, "they fooled him 
to the top of his bent.'* Three thousand dollars were 
subscribed, that is to say, names were written against dif- 
ferent sums to that amount, a house was chosen, and finally, 
application was made to the government, and the charter 
obtained, rehearsing formally the names of the subscribing 

59 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

members_, the professors^ and the officers. So far did the 
steam of their zeal impel them, but at this point it was let 
ofF; the affair stood still, and I never heard the academy 
of fine arts mentioned afterwards. 

This same German gentleman, on seeing Mr. H.'s 
sketches, was so well pleased with them, that he imme- 
diately proposed his joining him in his drawing school, 
with an agreement, I believe, that his payment from it 
should be five hundred dollars a year. Mr. H. accepted 
the proposal, but the union did not last long, and the cause 
of its dissolution was too American to be omitted. Mr. H. 
prepared his models, and attended the class, which was 
numerous, consisting both of boys and girls. He soon 
found that the "sage called Decipline" was not one of the 
assistants, and he remonstrated against the constant talk- 
ing, and running from one part of the room to another, 
but in vain; finding, however, that he could do nothing till 
this was discontinued, he wrote some rules, enforcing order, 
for the purpose of placing them at the door of the acad- 
emy. When he showed them to his colleague, he shook his 
head, and said, "Very goot, very goot in Europe, but Amer- 
ica boys and gals vill not bear it, dey vill do just vat dey 
please; Suur, dey vould all go avay next day." "And you 
will not enforce these regulations si necessaires. Monsieur ?'"' 
"O lar ! not for de vorld." "Eh bien. Monsieur, I must leave 
the young republicans to your management." 

I heard another anecdote that will help to show the state 
of art at this time in the west. Mr. Bullock was showing to 
some gentlemen of the first standing, the very elite of Cin- 
cinnati, his beautiful collection of engravings, when one 
among them exclaimed, "Have you really done all these 
since you came here ! How hard you must have worked !" 

I was also told of a gentleman of high Cincinnati ton, 
and critical in his taste for the fine arts, who, having a 

60 



OF THE AMERICANS 

Irawirig put into his liaiids^ representing Hebe and the bird 
jmquhile^ sacred to Jupiter, demanded in a satirical tone, 
'What is this?" "Hebe," replied the alarmed collector. 
'Hebe," sneered the man of taste, "What the devil has Hebe 
:o do with the American eagle?" 

We had not been long at Cincinnati when Dr. Caldwell, 
he Spurzheim of America, arrived there, for the purpose 
if delivering lectures on phrenology. I attended his lec- 
tures, and was introduced to him. He has studied Spurz- 
leim and Combe diligently, and seems to understand the 
icience to which he has devoted himself; but neither his 
ectures nor his conversation had that delightful truth of 
genuine enthusiasm, which makes listening to Dr. Spurz- 
leim so great a treat. His lectures, however, produced 
;onsiderable effect. Between twenty and thirty of the most 
erudite citizens decided upon forming a phrenological so- 
'iety. A meeting was called, and fully attended; a respec- 
able number of subscribers' names was registered, the pay- 
nent of subscriptions being arranged for a future day. 
.^resident, vice-president, treasurer, and secretary, were 
;hosen, and the jfirst meeting dissolved with every appear- 
mce of energetic perseverance in scientific research. 

The second meeting brought together one-half of this 
earned body, and they enacted rules and laws, and passed 
•esolutions, sufficient, it was said, to have filled three folios. 

A third day of meeting arrived, which was an important 
)ne, as on this occasion the subscriptions were to be paid. 
The treasurer came punctually, but found himself alone. 
tVith patient hope, he waited two hours for the wise men 
)f the west, but he waited in vain: and so expired the 
.Phrenological Society of Cincinnati. 

I had often occasion to remark that the spirit of enter- 
prise or improvement seldom glowed with sufficient ardour to 
Resist the smothering effect of a demand for dollars. The 

61 



DOMESTIC MANNEKS 

Americans love talking. All great works, however, that 
promise a profitable result, are sure to meet support from 
men who have enterprise and capital sufficient to await the 
return; but where there is nothing but glory, or the grati- 
fication of taste to be expected, it is, I believe, very rarely 
that they give any thing beyond "their most sweet voices." 

Perhaps they are right. In Europe we see fortunes crip- 
pled by a passion for statues, or for pictures, or for books, 
or for gems; for all and every of the artificial wants that 
give grace to life, and tend to make man forget that he is i 
a thing of clay. They are wiser in their generation on the i 
other side of the Atlantic; I rarely saw any thing that led l| 
to such oblivion there. 

Soon after Dr. Caldwell's departure, another lecturer ap- 
peared upon the scene, whose purpose of publicly address- | 
ing the people was no sooner made known than the most | 
violent sensation was excited. 

That a lady of fortune, family, and education, whose i 
youth had been passed in the most refined circles of private I 
life, should present herself to the people as a public lec- 
turer, would naturally excite surprise any where, and the 
nil admirari of the old world itself would hardly be sus- j 
tained before such a spectacle; but in America, where [ 
women are guarded by a seven-fold shield of habitual in- 
significance, it caused an effect that can hardly be described. 
"Miss Wright, of Nashoba, is going to lecture at the court- | 
house," sounded from street to street, and from house to )|| 
house. I shared the surprise, but not the wonder; I knew 
her extraordinary gift of eloquence, her almost unequalled ' 
command of words, and the wonderful power of her rich i 
and thrilling voice; and I doubted not that if it was her' 
will to do it, she had the power of commanding the atten--j 
tion, and enchanting the ear of any audience before whom ; 
it was her pleasure to appear. I was most anxious to hear 

62 



OP THE AMERICANS 

her, but was almost deterred from attempting it, by the re- 
ports that reached me of the immense crowd that was ex- 
pected. After many consultations, and hearing that many 
other ladies intended goings my friend Mrs. P***^^ and 
myself, decided upon making the attempt, accompanied by 
a party of gentlemen, and found the difficulty less than we 
anticipated, though the building was crowded in every part. 
We congratulated ourselves that we had had the courage 
to be among the number, for all my expectations fell far 
short of the splendour^ the brilliance, the overwhelming elo- 
quence of this extraordinary orator. 

Her lecture was upon the nature of true knowledge, and 
it contained little that could be objected to, by any sect or 
party; it was intended as an introduction to the strange 
and startling theories contained in her subsequent lectures, 
and could alarm only by the hints it contained that the 
fabric of human wisdom could rest securely on no other base 
than that of human knowledge. 

There was, however, one passage from which common- 
sense revolted ; it was one wherein she quoted that phrase of 
mischievous sophistry, "all men are born free and equal." 

This false and futile axiom, which has done, is doing, 
and will do so much harm to this fine country, came from 
Jefferson; and truly his life was a glorious commentary 
upon it. I pretend not to criticise his written works, but 
common sense enables me to pronounce this, his favourite 
maxim, false. 

Few names are held in higher estimation in America than 
that of Jefferson: it is the touchstone of the democratic 
party, and all seem to agree thfit he was one of the greatest 
men; yet I have heard his name coupled with deeds which 
would make the sons of Europe shudder. The facts I al- 
lude to are spoken openly by all, not whispered privately 
by a few; and in a country where religion is the tea-table 

63 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

talk^ and its strict observance a fashionable distinction^ these 
facts are recorded^, and listened to^ without horror^ nay, 
without emotion. 

Mr. Jefferson is said to have been the father of children 
by almost all his numerous gang of female slaves. These 
wretched offspring were also the lawful slaves of their 
father, and worked in his house and plantations as such; 
in particular, it is recorded that it was his especial pleasure 
to be waited upon by them at table, and the hospitable orgies 
for which his Monticello was so celebrated were incom- 
plete, unless the goblet he quaffed were tendered by the 
trembling hand of his own slavish offspring. 

I once heard it sta4;ed by a democratical adorer of this 
great man, that when, as it sometimes happened, his chil- 
dren by Quadroon slaves were white enough to escape sus- 
picion of their origin, he did not pursue them if they at- 
tempted to escape, saying laughingly, "Let the rogues get 
off, if they can ; I will not hinder them.** This was stated 
in a large party, as a proof of his kind and noble nature, 
and was received by all with approving smiles. 

If I know any thing of right or wrong, if virtue and 
vice be indeed something more than words, then was this 
great American an unprincipled tyrant, and most heartless 
libertine. 

But to return to Miss Wright — it is impossible to imagine 
any thing more striking than her appearance. Her tall and 
majestic figure, the deep and almost solemn expression of 
her eyes, the simple contour of her finely formed head, un- 
adorned, excepting by its own natural ringlets; her gar- 
ment of plain white muslin, which hung around her in folds 
that recalled the drapery of a Grecian statue, all contrib- 
uted to produce an effect, unlike any thing I had ever seen 
before, or ever expect to see again. 



64 



CHAPTER VIII 

Absence of public and private Amusement — 
Churches and Chapels — Influence of the Clergy — 
A Revival 

I NEVER saw any people who appeared to live so much 
without amusement as the Cincinnatians. Billiards are for- 
bidden by law^ so are cards. To sell a pack of cards in 
Ohio subjects the seller to a penalty of fifty dollars. They 
have no public balls, excepting, I think, six, during the 
Christmas holidays. They have no concerts. They have no 
dinner parties. 

ij They have a theatre, which is, in fact, the only public 
amusement of this triste little town; but they seem to care 
little about it, and either from economy or distaste, it is very 
poorly attended. Ladies are rarely seen there, and by far 
the larger proportion of females deem it an oiFence against 
religion to witness the representation of a play. It is in 
the churches and chapels of the town that the ladies are 
i||to be seen in full costume: and I am tempted to believe 
that a stranger from the continent of Europe would be in- 
clined, on first reconnoitering the city, to suppose that the 
places of worship were the theatres and cafes of the place. 
ilNo evening in the week but brings throngs of the young 
iand beautiful to the chapels and meeting-houses, all dressed 
with care, and sometimes with great pretension; it is there 
that all display is made, and all fashionable distinction 
sought. The proportion of gentlemen attending these even- 
ing meetings is very small, but often, as might be expected, 
a sprinkling of smart young clerks makes this sedulous dis- 
play of ribbons and ringlets intelligible and natural. Were 

65 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

it not for the churches^ indeed^ I tliink there might be a 
general bonfire of best bonnets, for I never could discover 
any other use for them. 

The ladies are too actively employed in the interior of 
their houses to permit much parading in full dress for 
morning visits. There are no public gardens or lounging 
shops of fashionable resort, and were it not for public wor- 
ship, and private tea-drinkings, all the ladies in Cincin- 
nati would be in danger of becoming perfect recluses. 

The influence which the ministers of all the innumerable 
religious sects through America have on the females of 
their respective congregations, approaches very nearly to 
what we read of in Spain, or in other strictly Roman 
Catholic countries. There are many causes for this pecul- 
iar influence. Where equality of rank is affectedly ac- 
knowledged by the rich, and clamorously claimed by the 
poor, distinction and pre-eminence are allowed to the clergy 
only. This gives them high importance in the eyes of the 
ladies. I think, also, that it is from the clergy only that 
the women of America receive that sort of attention which 
is so dearly valued by every female heart throughout the 
world. With the priests of America the women hold that 
degree of influential importance which, in the countries of 
Europe, is allowed them throughout all orders and ranks of 
society, except, perhaps, the very lowest; and in return for 
this they seem to give their hearts and souls into their keep- 
ing. I never saw, or read, of any country where religion 
had so strong a hold upon the women, or a slighter hold 
upon the men. 

I mean not to assert that I met with no men of sincerely 
religious feelings, or with no women of no religious feel- 
ings at all; but I feel perfectly secure of being correct as 
to the great majority in the statement I have made. 

We had not been many months in Cincinnati when our 

66 



OP THE AMERICANS 

juriosity was excited by hearing the "revival" talked of by 
[jvery one we met throughout the town. "The revival will 
je very full" — "We shall be constantly engaged during the 
•evival" — were the phrases we constantly heard repeated, 
ind for a long time without in the least comprehending 
.vhat was meant; but at length I learnt that the unnational 
church of America required to be roused, at regular inter- 
nals, to greater energy and exertion. At these seasons the 
[nost enthusiastic of the clergy travel the country, and enter 
the cities and towns by scores, or by hundreds, as the ac- 
commodation of the place may admit, and for a week or 
fortnight, or, if the population be large, for a month; they 
preach and pray all day, and often for a considerable por- 
tion of the night, in the various churches and chapels of the 
place. This is called a Revival. 

I took considerable pains to obtain information on this 
subject; but in detailing what I learnt I fear that it is 
probable I shall be accused of exaggeration; all I can do 
is cautiously to avoid deserving it. The subject is highly 
interesting, and it would be a fault of no trifling nature to 
treat it with levity. 

These itinerant clergymen are of all persuasions, I be- 
lieve, except the Episcopalian, Catholic, Unitarian, and 
Quaker. I heard of Presbyterians of all varieties; of Bap- 
tists of I know not how many divisions; and of Methodists 
of more denominations than I can remember; whose innu- 
merable shades of varying belief it would require much time 
to explain and more to comprehend. They enter all the 
cities, towns, and villages of the Union in succession; I 
could not learn with sufiicient certainty to repeat, what the 
interval generally is between their visits. These itinerants 
are, for the most part, lodged in the houses of their re- 
spective followers, and every evening that is not spent in 
the churches and meeting-houses, is devoted to what would 

67 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

be called parties by others, but which they designate as 
prayer-meetings. Here they eat, drink, pray, sing, hear i 
confessions, and make converts. To these meetings I never 
got invited, and therefore I have nothing but hearsay evi- 
dence to offer, but my information comes from an eye 
witness, and one on whom I believe I may depend. If one 
half of what I heard may be believed, these social prayer- 
meetings are by no means the least curious, or the least im- 
portant part of the business. 

It is impossible not to smile at the close resemblance to be 
traced between the feelings of a first-rate Presbyterian or 
Methodist lady, fortunate enough to have secured a favourite 
Itinerant for her meeting, and those of a first-rate London 
Blue, equally blest in the presence of a fashionable poet. 
There is a strong family likeness among us all the world 
over. 

The best rooms, the best dresses, the choicest refresh- 
ments solemnize the meetings. While the party is assem- 
bling, the load-star of the hour is occupied in whispering 
conversations with the guests as they arrive. They are 
called brothers and sisters, and the greetings are very 
affectionate. When the room is full, the company, of whom 
a vast majority are always women, are invited, intreated, 
and coaxed to confess before their brothers and sisters, all 
their thoughts, faults, and follies. 

These confessions are strange scenes ; the more they con- 
fess, the more invariably are they encouraged and caressed. 
When this is over, they all kneel, and the Itinerant prays 
extempore. They then eat and drink; and then they sing 
hymns, pray, exhort, sing, and pray again, till the excite- 
ment reaches a very high pitch indeed. These scenes are 
going on at some house or other every evening during the 
revival, nay, at many at the same time, for the churches and 
meeting-houses cannot give occupation to half the Itiner- 

6S 



I OF THE AMERICANS 

lilts, though the}^ are all open throughout the day, and till a 
ate hour in the night, and the officiating ministers succeed 
;ach other in the occupation of them. 

It was at the principal of the Presbyterian churches that 
[ was twice witness to scenes that made me shudder; in de- 
icribing one, I describe both, and every one; the same thing 
IS constantly repeated. 

It was in the middle of summer, but the service we were 
•ecommended to attend did not begin till it was dark. The 
ihurch was well lighted, and crowded almost to suffocation, 
3n entering, we found three priests standing side by side, 
n a sort of tribune, placed where the altar usually is, hand- 
lomely fitted up with crimson curtains, and elevated about 
IS high as our pulpits. We took our places in a pew close 
;o the S'ail which surrounded it. 

The priest who stood in the middle was praying ; the 
Drayer was extravagantly vehement, and offensively familiar 
n expression ; when this ended, a hymn was sung, and then 
mother priest took the centre place, and preached. The 
;ermon had considerable eloquence, but of a frightful kind. 
The preacher described, with ghastly minuteness, the last 
J'eeble fainting moments of human life, and then the gradual 
Drogress of decay after death, which he followed through 
;very process up to the last loathsome stage of decompo- 
sition. Suddenly changing his tone, which had been that of 
?ober accurate description, into the shrill voice of horror, 
:ie bent forward his head, as if to gaze on some object 
3eneath the pulpit. And as Rebecca made known to Ivan- 
lioe what she saw through the window, so the preacher made 
i;nown to us what he saw in the pit that seemed to open 
jefore him. The device was certainly a happy one for 
giving effect to his description of hell. No image that fire, 
flame, brimstone, molten lead, or red hot pincers could sup- 
ply, with flesh, nerves, and sinews quivering under them, 

69 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

was omitted. The perspiration ran in streams from the 
face of the preacher; his eyes rolled, his lips were covered 
with foam, and every feature had the deep expression of 
horror it would have borne, had he, in truth, been gazing at 
the scene he described. The acting was excellent. At 
length he gave a languishing look to his supporters on each 
side, as if to express his feeble state, and then sat down, 
and wiped the drops of agony from his brow. 

The other two priests arose, and began to sing a hymn. 
It was some seconds before the congregation could join as | 
usual; every up-turned face looked pale and horror-struck. 
When the singing ended, another took the centre place, , 
and began in a sort of coaxing affectionate tone, to ask the ' 
congregation if what their dear brother had spoken had i 
reached their hearts ? Whether they would avoid the hell ! 
he had made them see? "Come, then!" he continued, | 
stretching out his arms toward them, "come to us and tell us 
so, and we will make you see Jesus, the dear gentle Jesus, 
who shall save you from it. But you must come to him! 
You must not be ashamed to come to him ! This night you ; 
shall tell him that you are not ashamed of him ; we will make 
way for you ; we will clear the bench for anxious sinners to •, 
sit upon. Come, then! come to the anxious bench, and war! 
will show you Jesus ! Come ! Come ! Come !" 

Again a hymn was sung, and while it continued, one of 
the three was employed in clearing one or two long benches 
that went across the rail, sending the people back to the 3 
lower part of the church. The singing ceased, and again i 
the people were invited, and exhorted not to be ashamed of 
Jesus, but to put themselves upon "the anxious benches," 
and lay their heads on his bosom. "Once more we will 
sing," he concluded, "that we may give you time." And 
again they sung a hymn. 

And now in every part of the church a movement was 

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OF THE AMERICANS 

•perceptible, slight at first, but by degrees becoming more 
decided. Young girls arose, and sat down, and rose again; 
and then the pews opened, and several came tottering out, 
their hands clasped, their heads hanging on their bosoms, 
land every limb trembling, and still the hymn went on; but 

ijas the poor creatures aiDproached the rail their sobs and 
groans became audible. They seated themselves on the 
"anxious benches;" the hymn ceased, and two of the three 
priests walked down from the tribune, and going, one to 
the right, and the other to the left, began whispering to the 
poor tremblers seated there. These whispers were inaudible 
to us, but the sobs and groans increased to a frightful excess. 
Young creatures, with features pale and distorted, fell on 
their knees on the pavement, and soon sunk forward on 
their faces; the most violent cries and shrieks followed, 
while from time to time a voice was heard in convulsive ac- 
cents, exclaiming, "Oh Lord!'* "Oh Lord Jesus!" "Help 
me, Jesus !" and the like. 

Meanwhile the two priests continued to walk among them ; 
they repeatedly mounted on the benches, and trumpet- 
mouthed proclaimed to the whole congregation, "the tidings 
of salvation," and then from every corner of the building 
arose in reply, short sharp cries of "Amen !" "Glory !" 
"Amen !" while the prostrate penitents continued to receive 
whispered comfortings, and from time to time a mystic 
caress. More than once I saw a young neck encircled by a 
reverend arm. Violent hysterics and convulsions seized 
many of them, and when the tumult was at the highest, the 
priest who remained above again gave out a hymn as if to 
drown it. 

I It was a frightful sight to behold innocent young crea- 

' tures, in the gay morning of existence, thus seized upon, 
horror-struck, and rendered feeble and enervated for ever. 
One young girl, apparently not more than fourteen, was 

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DOMESTIC MANNEES 

supported in the arms of another some years older; her 
face was pale as death; her eyes wide open^ and perfectly 
devoid of meaning ; her chin and bosom wet with slaver ; she 
had every appearance of idiotism. I saw a priest approach 
her^ he took her delicate hand^ "Jesus is with her ! Bless the 
Lord !" he said and passed on. 

Did the men of America value their women as men ought 
to value their wives and daughters, would such scenes be 
permitted among them ? 

It is hardly necessary to say, that all who obeyed the call 
to place themselves on the "anxious benches" were women, 
and by far the greater number, very young women. The 
congregation was, in general, extremely well dressed, and 
the smartest and most fashionable ladies of the town were 
there; during the whole revival, the churches and meeting- 
houses were every day crowded with well-dressed people. 

It is thus the ladies of Cincinnati amuse themselves: to 
attend the theatre is forbidden; to play cards is unlawful; 
but they work hard in their families, and must have some 
relaxation. For myself, I confess that I think the coarsest 
comedy ever written would be a less detestable exhibition for 
the eyes of youth and innocence than such a scene. 






72 



j CHAPTER IX 

. Schools — Climate — Water Melons — Fourth of July 
— Storms — Figs — Moving Houses — Mr. Flint — 
Literature 

Cincinnati contains many schools, but of their rank or 
merit I had very little opportunity of judging; the only one 
which I visited was kept by Dr. Lock, a gentleman who 
appears to have liberal and enlarged opinions on the subject 
of female education. Should Lis system produce practical 
results proportionably excellent, the ladies of Cincinnati 
will probably, some years hence, be much improved in their 
powers of companionship. I attended the annual public 
exhibition at this school, and perceived, with some surprise, 
that the higher branches of science were among the studies 
of the pretty creatures I saw assembled there. One lovely 
girl of sixteen tooJc her degree in mathematics, and another 
was examined in moral philosophy. They blushed so 
sweetly, and looked so beautifully puzzled and confounded, 
that it might have been difficult for an abler judge than I 
was to decide how far they merited the diploma they 
received. 

This method of letting young ladies graduate, and grant- 
ing them diplomas on quitting the establishment, was quite 
new to me ; at least, I do not remember to have heard of any 
thing similar elsewhere. I should fear that the time allowed 
to the fair graduates of Cincinnati for the acquirement of 
these various branches of education would seldom be suf- 
ficient to permit their reaching the eminence in each which 
their enlightened instructor anticipates. "A quarter's** 
mathematics, or "two quarters' " political economy, moral 

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DOMESTIC Mi^NNERS 

philosophy^ algebra, and quadratic equations_, would seldom, 
I should think, enable the teacher and the scholar, by their 
joint efforts, to lay in such a stock of these sciences as 
would stand the wear and tear of half a score of children, 
and one help. 

Towards the end of May we began to feel that we were ii 
a climate warmer than any we had been accustomed to, an« 
my son suffered severely from the effects of it. A bilious^ 
complaint, attended by a frightful degree of fever, seized 
him, and for some days we feared for his life. The treat- 
ment he received was, I have no doubt, judicious, but the 
quantity of calomel prescribed was enormous. I asked one 
day how many grains I should prepare, and was told to give 
half a teaspoonful. The difference of climate must, I 
imagine, make a difference in the effect of this drug, or the 
practice of the old and new world could hardly differ so 
widely as it does in the use of it. Anstey, speaking of the 
Bath physicians, says, 

"No one e*er viewed 
Any one of the medical gentlemen stewed." 

But I can vouch, upon my own experience, that no similar 
imputation lies against the gentlemen who prescribed large 
quantities of calomel in America. To give one instance in 
proof of this, when I was afterwards in Montgomery county, 
near Washington, a physician attended one of our neigh- 
bours, and complained that he was himself unwell. "You 
must take care of yourself. Doctor," said the patient: "I 
do so," he replied, "I took forty grains of calomel yesterday, 
and I feel better than I did." Repeated and violent bleed- 
ing was also had recourse to, in the case of my son, and in a 
few days he was able to leave his room, but he was dread- 

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OP THE AMERICANS 

fully emaciated, and it was many weeks before he recovered 
his strength. 

I As the heat of the weather increased, we heard of much 
sickness around us. The city is full of physicians, and 
they were all to be seen driving about in their cabs at a very 
alarming rate. One of these gentlemen told us, that when 
a medical man intended settling in a new situation, he al- 
ways, if he knew his business, walked through the streets 
at night, before he decided. If he saw the dismal twinkle 
of the watch-light from many windows, he might be sure 
that disease was busy, and that the "location" might suit 
him well. Judging by this criterion, Cincinnati was far 
from healthy; I began to fear for our health, and deter- 
mined to leave the city ; but for a considerable time I found 
it impossible to procure a dwelling out of it. There were 
many boarding-houses in the vicinity, but they were all over- 
flowing with guests. We were advised to avoid, as much as 
possible, walking out in the heat of the day; but the morn- 
ings and evenings were delightful, particularly the former, 
if taken sufficiently early. For several weeks I was never 
in bed after four o'clock, and at this hour I almost daily 
accompanied my "help" to market, where the busy novelty 
of the scene aiforded me much amusement. 

Many waggon-loads of enormous water-melons were 
brought to market every day, and I was sure to see groups 
of men, women, and children, seated on the pavement round 
the spot where they were sold, sucking in prodigious quan- 
tities of this watery fruit. Their manner of devouring them 
is extremely unpleasant; the huge fruit is cut into half a 
dozen sections, of about a foot long, and then, dripping as 
it is with water, applied to the mouth, from either side of 
which pour copious streams of the fluid, while ever and 
anon, a mouthful of the hard black seeds are shot out in all 
directions, to the great annoyance of all within reach. When 

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DOMESTIC MANNERS 

I first tasted this fruit I thought it very vile stuff, indeed, 
but before the end of the season we all learned to like it. 
When taken with claret and sugar, it makes delicious wine 
and water. 

It is the custom for the gentlemen to go to market at 
Cincinnati; the smartest men in the place, and those of the 
"highest standing/' do not scruple to leave their beds with 
the sun six days in the week, and, prepared with a mighty 
basket, to sally forth in search of meat, butter, eggs, and 
vegetables. I have continually seen them returning, with 
their weighty basket on one arm and an enormous ham de- 
pending from the other. 

And now arrived the 4th of July, that greatest of all 
American festivals. On the 4th of July, 1776, the declara- 
tion of their independence was signed, at the State-house in 
Philadelphia. 

To me, the dreary coldness and want of enthusiasm in 
American manner is one of their greatest defects, and I 
therefore hailed the demonstrations of general feeling which 
this day elicits, with real pleasure. On the 4th of July the 
hearts of the people seem to awaken from a three hundred 
and sixty-four days' sleep; they appear high-spirited, gay, 
animated, social, generous, or at least, liberal in expense; 
and would they but refrain from spitting on that hallowed 
day, I should say, that on the 4th of July, at least, they 
appeared to be an amiable people. It is true that the 
women have but little to do with the pageantry, the splen- 
dour, or the gaiety of the day ; but, setting this defect aside,- 
it was indeed a glorious sight to behold a jubilee so heart- 
felt as this ; and had they not the bad taste and bad feeling 
to utter an annual oration, with unvarying abuse of the 
mother country, to say nothing of the warlike manifesto 
called the Declaration of Independence, our gracious king 
himself might look upon the scene and say that it was good ; 

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nay, even rejoice, that twelve millions of bustling bodies, 
I .at four thousand miles' distance from his throne and his 
altars, should make their own laws, and drink their own 
tea, after the fashion that pleased them best. 

One source of deep interest to us, in this new clime, was 
the frequent recurrence of thunder-storms. Those who have 
only listened to thunder in England, have but a faint idea 
of the language which the gods speak when they are angry. 
Thomson's description, however, will do : it is hardly possible 
that words can better paint the spectacle, or more truly echo 
to the sound, than his do. The only point he does not reach 
is the vast blaze of rose-coloured light that ever and anon 
sets the landscape on fire. 

In reading this celebrated description in America, and 
observing how admirably true it was to nature there, I 
seemed to get a glimpse at a poet's machinery, and to per- 
ceive, that in order to produce effect he must give his images 
more vast than he finds them in nature; but the proportions 
must be just, and the colouring true. Every thing seems 
colossal on this great continent; if it rains, if it blows, if it 
thunders^ it is all done fortissimo: but I often felt terror 
yield to wonder and delight, so grand, so glorious were the 
scenes a storm exhibited. Accidents are certainly more fre- 
quent than with us, but not so much so as reasonably to 
bring terror home to one's bosom every time a mass of lurid 
clouds is seen rolling up against the wind. 

I It seems hardly fair to quarrel with a place because its 
■staple commodity is not pretty, but I am sure I should have 
liked Cincinnati much better if the people had not dealt so 
very largely in hogs. The immense quantity of business 
done in this line would hardly be believed by those who had 

77 



DOMESTIC MANNEKS 

not witnessed it. I never saw a newspaper without remark- 
ing such advertisements as the following: 

"Wanted^ immediately, 4,000 fat hogs." 
"For sale, 2,000 barrels of prime pork." 

i 

But the annoyance came nearer than this ; if I determined sj! 
upon a walk up Main-street, the chances were five hundred i 
to one against my reaching the shady side without brushing 
by a snout fresh dripping from the kennel; when we had 
screwed our courage to the enterprise of mounting a cer- , 
tain noble-looking sugar-loaf hill, that promised pure air ', 
and a fine view, we found the brook we had to cross, at its 
foot, red with the stream from a pig slaughter-house; while 
our noses, instead of meeting "the thyme that loves the green j 
hill's breast," were greeted by odours that I will not de- ! 
scribe, and which I heartily hope my readers cannot imagine; ; 
our feet, that on leaving the city had expected to press the 
flowery sod, literally got entangled in pigs* tails and jaw- 
bones ; and thus the prettiest walk in the neighborhood was i 
interdicted for ever. Ip 

One of the sights to stare at in America is that of houses 
moving from place to place. We were often amused by 
watching this exhibition of mechanical skill in the streets. | 
They make no difficulty of moving dwellings from one part I 
of the town to another. Those I saw travelling were all of 
them frame-houses, that is, built wholly of wood, except ! 
the chimneys; but it is said that brick buildings are some- ' 
times treated iii the same manner. The largest dwelling j 
that I saw in motion was one containing two stories of four 
rooms each; forty oxen were yoked to it. The first few 
yards brought down the two stacks of chimneys, but it after- j 
wards went on well. The great difficulties were the first ] 
getting it in motion and the stopping exactly in the right ! 



OP. THE AMERICANS 

place. This locomotive power was extremely convenient at 
Cincinnati^ as the constant improvements going on there 
made it often desirable to change a wooden dwelling for 
one of brick; and whenever this happened, we were sure to 
see the ex-No. 100 of Main Street, or the ex-No. 55 of Sec- 
ond Street, creeping quietly out of town, to take possession 
jof a humble suburban station on the common above it. 

The most agreeable acquaintance I made in Cincinnati, 
[and indeed one of the most talented men I ever met, was 
Mr. Flint, the author of several extremely clever volumes, 
and the editor of the Western Monthly Review. His con- 
versational powers are of the highest order: he is the only 
person I remember to have known with first-rate powers of 
satire, and even sarcasm, whose kindness of nature and of 
manner remained perfectly uninjured. In some of his criti- 
cal notices there is a strength and keenness second to nothing 
iof the kind I have ever read. He is a warm patriot, and so 
true-hearted an American, that we could not always be of 
the same opinion on all the subjects we discussed; but 
whether it were the force and brilliancy of his language, his 
genuine and manly sincerity of feeling, or his bland and 
gentleman-like manner that beguiled me, I know not, but 
certainly he is the only American I ever listened to, whose 
unqualified praise of his country did not appear to me 
somewhat over-strained and ridiculous. 

On one occasion, but not at the house of Mr. Flint, I 
passed an evening in company with a gentleman, said to be a 
scholar, and a man of reading; he was also what is called a 
serious gentleman, and he appeared to have pleasure in feel- 
ing that his claim to distinction was acknowledged in both 
capacities. There was a very amiable serious lady in the 
company, to whom he seemed to trust for the development 
of his celestial pretensions, and to me he did the honour 

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DOMESTIC MANNERS 

of addressing most of his terrestrial superiority. The dif- 
ference between us was^ that when he spoke to her, he 
spoke as to a being who, if not his equal, was at least de- 
serving high distinction; and he gave her smiles, such as 
, Michael might have vouchsafed to Eve. To me he spoke as 
Paul to the offending Jews; he did not. Indeed, shaite his 
raiment at me, but he used his pocket-handkerchief so as to 
answer the purpose; and if every sentence did not end with 
"I am clean," pronounced by his lips, his tone, his look, his 
action, fully supplied the deficiency. 

Our poor Lord Byron, as may be supposed, was the bull's- 
eye against which every dart in his black little quiver was 
aimed. I had never heard any serious gentleman talk of 
Lord Byron at full length before, and I listened atten- 
tively. It was evident that the noble passages which are 
graven on the hearts of the genuine lovers of poetry had 
altogether escaped the serious gentleman's attention; and 
it was equally evident that he knew by rote all those that 
they wish the mighty master had never written. I told him 
so, and I shall not soon forget the look he gave me. 

Of other authors his knowledge was very imperfect, but 
his criticisms very amusing. Of Pope, he said, *'He is so 
entirely gone by, that in our country it is considered quite 
fustian to speak of him." 

But I persevered, and named "the Rape of the Lock" as 
evincing some little talent, and being in a tone that might 
still hope for admittance in the drawing-room; but, on the 
mention of this poem, the serious gentleman became almost 
as strongly agitated as when he talked of Don Juan; and 
I was unfeignedly at a loss to comprehend the nature of his 
feelings, till he muttered, with an indignant shake of the 
handkerchief, "The very title!" * * 

At the name of Dry den he smiled, and the smile spoke as 

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OF THE AMERICANS 

plainly as a smile could speak, "How the old woman twad- 
dles!" 

"We only know Dryden by quotations, Madam, and these, 
indeed, are found only in books that have long since had 
their day." 

"And Shakspeare, sir?" 

"Shakspeare, Madam, is obscene, and, thank God, we 
are sufficiently advanced to have found it out! If we must 
have the abomination of stage i)lays, let them at least be 
marked by the refinement of the age in which we live." 

This was certainly being au courant dii jour. 

Of Massinger he knew nothing. Of Ford he had never 
heard. Gray had had his day. Prior he had never read, 
but understood he was a very childish writer. Chaucer 
and Spenser he tied in a couple, and dismissed hj saying, 
that he thought it was neither more nor less than affectation 
to talli of authors who wrote in a tongue no longer intelli- 
gible. 

This was the most literary conversation I was ever present 
at in Cincinnati*. 

In truth, there are many reasons which render a very 
general diffusion of literature impossible in America. I can 
scarcely class the universal reading of newspapers as an 
exception to this remark; if I could, my statement would be 
exactly the reverse, and I should say that America beat the 
world in letters. The fact is, that throughout all ranks of 
society, from the successful merchant, which is the highest, 
to the domestic serving man, which is the lowest, they are 
all too actively employed to read, except at such broken 
moments as may suffice for a peep at a newspaper. It is 
for this reason, I presume, that every American newspaper 
is more or less a magazine, wherein the merchant may scan 

* The pleasant, easy, unpretending talk on all subjects, which I 
enjoyed in Mi-. Flint's family, was an exception to every thing else 
I met at Cincinnati. 

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DOMESTIC MANNERS 

while he holds out his hand for an invoice^ "Stanzas by Mrs. 
Hemans/' or a garbled extract from Moore's Life of Byron; 
the lawyer may study his brief faithfully, and yet contrive ,j 
to pick up the valuable dictum of some American critic, that ! 
"Bulwer's novels are decidedly superior to Sir Walter 
Scott's ;" nay, even the auctioneer may find time, as he 
bustles to his tub, or his tribune, to support his pretensions -^ 
to polite learning, by glancing his quick eye over the col-l; 
umns, and reading that "Miss Mitford's descriptions are 
indescribable." If you buy a yard of ribbon, the shop- ^ 
keeper lays down his newspaper, perhaps two or three, tod 
measure it. I have seen a brewer's drayman perched on thei 
shaft of his dray and reading one newspaper, while an- 
other was tucked under his arm; and I once went into the 
cottage of a country shoemaker, of the name of Harris, 
where I saw a newspaper half full of "original" poetry, j 
directed to Madison F. Harris. To be sure of the fact, I 
asked the man if his name were Madison. "Yes, Madam, 
Madison Franklin Harris is my name." The last and the 
lyre divided his time, I fear too equally, for he looked pale j 
and poor. 

This, I presume, is what is meant by the general dif- 
fusion of knowledge, so boasted of in the United States; 
such as it is, the diffusion of it is general enough, certainly; 
but I greatly doubt its being advantageous to the population. 

The only reading men I met with were those who made 
letters their profession; and of these, there were some who 
would hold a higher rank in the great Republic (not of 
America, but of letters), did they write for persons less 
given to the study of magazines and newspapers; and they 
might hold a higher rank still, did they write for the few 
and not for the many. I was always drawing a parallel, 
perhaps a childish one, between the external and internal i: 
deficiency of polish and of elegance in the native volumes 

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OF THE AMERICANS 

of the country. Their compositions have not that condensa- 
tion of thought^ or that elaborate finish, which the conscious- 
ness of writing for the scholar and the man of taste is cal- 
culated to give; nor have their dirty blue paper and slovenly 
types* the polished elegance that fits a volume for the hand 
or the eye of the fastidious epicure in literary enjoyment. 
The first book I bought in America was the "Chronicles of 
the Canongate." On asking the price I was agreeably sur- 
prised to hear a dollar and a half named, being about one- 
sixth of what I used to pay for its fellows in England; but 
on opening the grim pages, it was long before I could again 
call them cheap. To be sure, the pleasure of a bright well- 
printed page ought to be quite lost sight of in the glowing, 
galloping, bewitching course that the imagination sets out 
upon with a new Waverley novel; and so it was with me till 
I felt the want of it; and then T am almost ashamed to 
confess how often, in turning the thin dusky pages, my poor 
earth-born spirit paused in its pleasure, to sigh for hot- 
pressed wire-wove. 

* I must make an exception in favour of the American Quarterly 
Review. To ttie eye of ttie body it is in all respects exactly the same 
thing as the English Quarterly Review. 



83 



CHAPTER X 

Removal to the country — Walk in the forest — 

Equality 

At length, my wish of obtaining a house in the country was 
gratified. A very pretty cottage_, the residence of a gentle- 
man who was removing into town, for the convenience of 
his business as a lawyer, was to let, and I immediately se- 
cured it. It was situated in a little village about a mile and 
a half from the town, close to the foot of the hills formerly 
mentioned as the northern boundary of it. We found our- 
selves much more comfortable here than in the city. The 
house was pretty and commodious, our sitting-rooms were 
cool and airy; we had got rid of the detestable mosquitoes, 
and we had an ice-house that never failed. Besides all this, 
we had the pleasure of gathering our tomatoes from our own 
garden, and receiving our milk from our own cow. Our 
manner of life was infinitely more to my taste than before; 
it gave us all the privileges of rusticity, which are fully 
as incompatible with the residence in a little town of West- 
ern America as with a residence in London. We lived on 
terms of primaeval intimacy with our cow, for if we lay 
dovni on our lawn, she did not scruple to take a sniff at the 
book we were reading, but then she gave us her own sweet 
breath in return. The verge of the cool-looking forest, that 
rose opposite our windows, was so near, that we often used 
it as an extra drawing-room, and there was no one to won- 
der if we went out with no other preparation than our 
parasols, carrying books and work enough to while away 
a long summer day in the shade; the meadow that divided 
us from it was covered with a fine short grass, that con- 
tinued for a little way under the trees, making a beautiful 

84 



OP THE AMERICANS 

carpet_, while sundry logs and stumps furnished our sofas 

ij and tables. But even this was not enough to satisfy us 

i when we first escaped from the city^ and we determined upon 

having a day's enjoyment of the wildest forest scenery we 

I could find. So we packed up books^ albums_, pencils^ and 

I sandwiches_, and^ despite a burning sun_, dragged up a hill 

' so steep^ that we sometimes fancied we could rest ourselves 

against it by only leaning forward a little. In panting and 

in groaning we reached the top^ hoping to be refreshed by 

i the purest breath of heaven; but to have tasted the breath 

I of heaven we must have climbed yet farther^ even to the 

I tops of the trees themselves^ for we soon found that the air 

beneath them stirred not^ nor ever had stirred, as it seemed 

to us, since first it settled there, so heavily did it weigh 

upon our lungs. 

Still we were determined to enjoy ourselves, and forward 
we went, crunching knee-deep through aboriginal leaves, 
hoping to reach some spot less perfectly air-tight than our 
landing-place. Wearied with the fruitless search, we de- 
cided on reposing awhile on the trunk of a fallen tree; 
being all considerably exhausted, the idea of sitting down 
on this tempting log was conceived and executed simulta- 
neously by the whole party, and the whole party sunk to- 
gether through its treacherous surface into a mass of rotten 
rubbish, that had formed part of the pith and marrow of the 
eternal forest a hundred years before. 

We were by no means the only sufferers by the accident; 
frogs, lizards, locusts, kattiedids, beetles, and hornets, had 
the whole of their various tenements disturbed, and testified 
their displeasure very naturally by annoying us as much as 
possible in return: we were bit, we were stung, we were 
scratched; and when, at last, we succeeded in raising our- 
selves from the venerable ruin, we presented as woeful a 
•spectacle as can well be imagined. We shook our (not 

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DOMESTIC MANNERS 

ambrosial) garments^ and panting with heat, stings, and 
vexation, moved a few paces from the scene of our misfor- 
tune, and again sat down ; but this time it was upon the solid 
earth. 

We had no sooner begun to *'chew the cud" of the bitter 
fancy that had beguiled us to these mountain solitudes, than 
a new annoyance assailed us. A cloud of mosquitoes gathered 
round, and while each sharp proboscis sucked our blood, 
they teased us with their humming chorus, till we lost all 
patience, and started again on our feet, pretty firmly re- 
solved never to try the al fresco joys of an American forest 
again. The sun was now in its meridian splendour, but our 
homeward path was short, and down hill; so again packing 
up our preparations for felicity, we started homeward, or, 
more properly speaking, we started; for in looking for an 
agreeable spot in this dungeon-forest, we had advanced so 
far from the verge of the hill, that we had lost all trace 
of the precise spot where we had entered it. Nothing was 
to be seen but multitudes of tall, slender, melancholy stems, 
as like as peas, and standing within a foot of each other. 
The ground, as far as the eye could reach (which certainly 
was not far), was covered with an unvaried bed of dry 
leaves; no trace, no track, no trail, as Mr. Cooper would 
call it, gave us a hint which way to turn ; and having paused 
for a moment to meditate, we remembered that chance must 
decide for us at last, so we set forward, in no very good 
mood, to encounter new misfortunes. We walked about 
a quarter of a mile, and coming to a steep descent, we 
thought ourselves extremely fortunate, and began to scram- 
ble down, nothing doubting that it was the same we had 
scrambled up. In truth, nothing could be more like; but, 
alas ! things that are alike are not the same ; when we had 
slipped and stumbled down to the edge of the wood, and 
were able to look beyond it, we saw no pretty cottage witli 

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OF THE AMERICANS 

Itlie shadow of its beautiful acacias coming forward to meet 
lus: all was dift'erent; and_, what was worse, all was distant 
!from the spot where we had hoped to be. We had come 
down the opposite side of the ridge, and had now to win 
our weary way a distance of three miles round its base. I 
ibelieve we shall none of us ever forget that walk. The 
bright, glowing, furnace-like heat of the atmosphere seems 
to scorch as I recall it. It was painful to tread, it was pain- 
ful to breathe, it was painful to look round; every object 
glowed with the reflection of the fierce tyrant that glared 
upon us from above. 

We got home alive, which agreeably surprised us; and 
when our parched tongues again found power of utterance, 
we promised each other faithfully never to propose any 
more parties of pleasure in the grim stove-like forests of 
Ohio. 

We were now in daily expectation of the arrival of Mr. 
T.; but day after day, and week after week passed by, till 
we began to fear some untoward circumstance might delay 
his coming till the Spring; at last, when we had almost 
ceased to look out for him, on the road which led from the 
town, he arrived, late at night, by that which leads across 
the country from Pittsburg. The pleasure we felt at seeing 
him was greatly increased by his bringing with him our 
eldest son, which was a happiness we had not hoped for. 
Our walks and our drives now became doubly interesting. 
The young men, fresh from a public school, found America 
so totally unlike all the nations with which their reading 
had made them acquainted, that it was indeed a new world 
to them. Had they visited Greece or Rome they would have 
encountered obj ects with whose images their minds had been 
long acquainted; or had they traveled to France or Italy 
they would have seen only what daily conversation had 
already rendered familiar ; but at our public schools America 

87 



DOMESTIC MA'NNEES 

(except perhaps as to her geographical position) is hardly- 
better known than Fairy Land; and the American character 
has not been much more deeply studied than that of the 
Anthropophagi: all^ therefore, was new, and everything 
amusing. 

The extraordinary familiarity of our poor neighbors 
startled us at first, and we hardly knew how to receive their 
uncouth advances, or what was expected of us in return; 
however, it sometimes produced very laughable scenes. Upon 
one occasion two of my children set off upon an exploring 
walk up the hills; they were absent rather longer than we 
expected, and the rest of our party determined upon going 
out to meet them; we knew the direction they had taken, 
but thought it would be as well to inquire at a little public- 
house at the bottom of the hill, if such a pair had been 
seen to pass. A woman, whose appearance more resembled 
a Covent Garden market-woman than any thing else I can 
remember, came out and answered my question with the most 
jovial good humour in the affirmative, and prepared to join 
us in our search. Her look, her voice, her manner, were 
so exceedingly coarse and vehement, that she almost fright- 
ened me; she passed her arm within mine, and to the inex- 
pressible amusement of my young people, she dragged me 
on, talking and questioning me without ceasing. She lived 
but a short distance from us, and I am sure intended to be 
a very good neighbour; but her violent intimacy made me 
dread to pass her door; my children, including my sons, 
she always addressed by their Christian names, excepting 
when she substituted the word "honey;" this familiarity of 
address, however, I afterwards found was universal through- 
out all ranks in the United States. 

My general appellation amongst my neighbours was "the 
English old woman," but in mentioning each other they con- 
stantly employed the term "lady;" and they evidently had 

88 



OF THE AMERICANS 

k pleasure in using it, for I repeatedly observed, that in 
speaking of a neighbour, instead of saying Mrs. Such-a-one, 
they described her as "the lady over the way what takes in 
Washing/' or as "that there lady, out by the gully, what is 
making dip-candles." Mr. Trollope was as constantly called 
rthe old man," while draymen, butchers' boys, and the la- 
bourers on the canal were invariably denominated "them 
gentlemen;" nay, we once saw one of the most gentleman- 
like men in Cincinnati introduce a fellow in dirty shirt 
jbleeves, and all sorts of detestable et cetera, to one of his 
jfriends, with this formula, "D***** let me introduce this 
l^entleman to you." 

Our respective titles certainly were not very important; 
but the eternal shaking hands with these ladies and gentle- 
Jmen was really an annoyance, and the more so, as the near 
approach of the gentlemen was always redolent of whiskey 
and tobacco. 

But the point where this republican equality was the 
imost distressing was in the long and frequent visitations 
that it produced. No one dreams of fastening a door in 
Western America; I was told that it would be considered 
ks an affront by the whole neighbourhood. I was thus ex- 
posed to perpetual, and most vexatious interruptions from 
people whom I had often never seen, and whose names still 
oftener were unknown to me. 

Those who are native there, and to the manner born, 
seem to pass over these annoyances with more skill than I 
could ever acquire. More than once I have seen some of 
my acquaintance beset in the same way, without appearing 
at all distressed by it; they continued their employment or 
conversation with me, much as if no such interruption had 
taken place; when the visitor entered, they would say. 
How do you do?" and shake hands. 

"Tolerable, I thank ye, how be you?" was the reply. 

89 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

If it was a female, she took oiF her hat; if a male;, he kept 
it on, and then taking possession of the first chair in their 
way, they would retain it for an hour together, without ut- i| 
tering another word; at length, rising abruptly, they would 
again shake hands, with, "Well, now I must be going, I 
guess," and so take themselves off, apparently well con- ' 
tented with their reception. 

I could never attain this philosophical composure ; I 
could neither write nor read, and I always fancied I must I 
talk to them. I will give the minutes of a conversation 
which I once set down after one of their visits, as a specimen 
of their tone and manner of speaking and thinking. My 
visitor was a milkman. 

"Well now, so you be from the old country ? Ay — you'll 
see sights here, I guess." 

"I hope I shall see many." ^ 

"That's a fact. I expect your little place of an island 
don't grow such dreadful fine corn as you sees here?" ,j|| 

"It grows no corn at all, sir*." 

"Possible! no wonder, then, that we reads such awful 
stories in the paper of your poor people being starved 
to death.'* 

"We have wheat, however." 

"Ay, for your rich folks, but I calculate the poor seldom 
gets a belly full." 

"You have certainly much greater abundance here." 

"I expect so. Why they do say, that if a poor body con- 
trives to be smart enough to scrape together a few dol- 
lars, that your King George always comes down upon 'em, 
and takes it all away. Don't he?" 

"I do not remember hearing of such a transaction." 

"I guess they be pretty close about it. Your papers ben't 

* Corn always means Indian corn, or maize. 

90 



OP. THE AMERICANS 

like ourn, I reckon? Now we says and prints just what we 
likes." 

"You spend a good deal of time in reading the news- 
papers." 

"And I'd like you to tell me how we can spend it better. 
pow should freemen spend their time^, but looking after 
their government^ and watching that them fellers as we 
gives office to doos their duty^, and gives themselves no airs?" 
: "But I sometimes think, sir, that your fences might be 
In more thorough repair, and your roads in better order, if 
less time was spent in politics." 

j "The Lord ! to see how little you knows of a free coun- 
Iry? Why, what's the smoothness of a road, put against 
the freedom of a free-born American? And what does a 
broken zig-zag signify, comparable to knowing that the 
men what we have been pleased to send up to Congress, 
speaks handsome and straight, as we chooses they should?" 

"It is from a sense of duty, then, that you all go to the 
liquor store to read the papers?" 

"To be sure it is, and he'd be no true-born American as 
didn't. I don't say that the father of a family should al- 
ways be after liquor, but I do say that I'd rather have my 
son drunk three times in a week, than not look after the 
affairs of his country." 

Our autumn walks were delightful; the sun ceased to 
scorch ; the want of flowers was no longer peculiar to Ohio ; 
and the trees took a colouring, which in richness, brilliance, 
and variety, exceeded all description. I think it is the ma- 
ple, or sugar-tree, that first sprinkles the forest with rich 
I crimson; the beech follows, with all its harmony of golden 
tints, from pale yellow up to brightest orange. The dog- 
wood gives almost the purple colour of the mulberry; the 
chestnut softens all with its frequent mass of delicate brown, 

91 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

and the sturdy oak carries its deep green into the verj 
lap of winter. These tints are too bright for the landscape 
painter ; the attempt to follow nature in an American au- 
tumn scene must be abortive. The colours are in reality 
extremely brilliant^ but the medium through which they are 
seen increases the effect surprisingly. Of all the points 
in which America has the advantage of England^ the one 
I felt most sensibly was the clearness and brightness of the 
atmosphere. By day and by night this exquisite purity of 
air gives tenfold beauty to every object. I could hardly 
believe the stars were the same; the Great Bear looked like 
a constellation of suns; and Jupiter justified all the fine 
things said of him in those beautiful lines, from I know not 
what spirited pen, beginning, 

"I looked on thee, Jove ! till my gaze 
Shrunk, smote by the pow'r of thy blaze." 

I always remarked that the first silver line of the moon's 
crescent attracted the eye on the first day, in America, as 
strongly as it does here on the third. I observed another 
phenomenon in the crescent moon of that region, the cause 
of which I less understood. That appearance which Shaks- 
peare describes as "the new moon, with the old moon in 
her lap," and which I have heard ingeniously explained as 
the effect of earth light, was less visible there than here. 

Cuyp's clearest landscapes have an atmosphere that ap- 
proaches nearer to that of America than any I remember 
on canvas ; but even Cuyp's air cannot reach the lungs, and, 
therefore, can only give an idea of half the enjoyment; for 
it makes itself felt as well as seen, and is indeed a con- ^ 
stant source of pleasure. || 

Our walks were, however, curtailed in several directions 
by my old Cincinnati enemies, the pigs; immense droves of 
them were continually arriving from the country by the road 

92 



OF THE AMERICANS 

lat led to most of our favourite walks ; they were often fed 
ad lodged in the prettiest valleys, and worse still, were 
aughtercd beside the prettiest streams. Another evil 
ireatened us from the same quarter, that was yet heavier. 
Wr cottage had an ample piazza (a luxury almost universal 
1 the country houses of America), which, shaded by a 

j 'roup of acacias, made a delightful sitting-room ; from this 

llavourite spot we one day perceived symptoms of building 
1 a field close to it ; with much anxiety we hastened to the 

, pot, and asked what building was to be erected there. 

t' ** 'Tis to be a slaughter-house for hogs," was the dreadful 
^ply. As there were several gentlemen's houses in the 
eighbourhood, I asked if such an erection might not be in- 
cted as a nuisance. 
"A what?" 

"A nuisance," I repeated, and explained what I meant. 
"No, no," was the reply, "that may do very well for your 
^rannical country, where a rich man's nose is more thought 
f than a poor man's mouth ; but hogs be profitable produce 
ere, and we be too free for such a law as that, I guess." 

I j During my residence in America, little circumstances like 
he foregoing often recalled to my mind a conversation I 
nee held in France with an old gentleman on the subject 

I If their active police, and its omnipresent gens d'armerie; 
fCroyez moi, Madame, il n'y a que ceux, a qui ils ont a 
aire, qui les trouvent de trop." And the old gentleman 
7as right, not only in speaking of France, but of the 

l|Vhole human family, as philosophers call us. The well 
iisposed, those whose own feeling of justice would prevent 
heir annoying others, will never complain of the restraints 
if the law. All the freedom enjoyed in America, beyond 
vhat is enjoyed in England, is enjoyed solely by the dis- 
orderly at the expense of the orderly ; and were I a stout 

ttnight, either of the sword or of the pen, I would fearlessly 

93 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

throw down my gauntlet^ and challenge the whole Republic 
to prove the contrary ; but being, as I am, a feeble looker-on, 
with a needle for my spear, and "I talk" for my device, 1 
must be contented with the power of stating the fact, per- 
fectly certain that I shall be contradicted by one loud 
shout from Maine to Georgia. 



94 



CHAPTER XI 

Religion 

I HAD often heard it observed, before I visited America, that 
Ue of the greatest blessings of its constitution was the ab- 
lence of a national religion, the country being thus ex- 
merated from all obligation of supporting the clergy ; those 
)nly contributing to do so whose principles led them to it. 
Vly residence in the country has shown me that a religious 
yranny may be exerted very effectually without the aid of 
;he government, in a way much more oppressive than the 
saying of tithe, and without obtaining any of the salutary 
decorum which I presume no one will deny is the result 
bf an established mode of worship. 

' As it was impossible to remain many weeks in the country 
j^ithout being struck with the strange anomalies produced 
|)y its religious system, my early notes contain many ob- 
krvations on the subject; but as nearly the same scenes 
recurred in every part of the country, I state them here, 
not as belonging to the west alone, but to the whole Union, 
the same cause producing the same eifect every where. 

The whole people appear to be divided into an almost end- 
less variety of religious factions, and I was told, that to 
be well received in society, it was necessary to declare 
yourself as belonging to some one of these. Let your ac- 
knowledged belief be what it may, you are said to be not a 
Christian, unless you attach yourself to a particular congre- 
gation. Besides the broad and well-known distinctions of 
Episcopalian, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Calvinist, Bap- 
tist, Quaker, Swedenborgian, Universalist, Dunker, &c., 
&c., &c., there are innumerable others springing out of 
^., these, each of which assumes a church government of its 

95 



DOMESTIC MANNEES 

own; of this, the most intriguing and factious individual !s 
invariably the head; and in order, as it should seem, to 
show a reason for this separation, each congregation invests 
itself with some queer variety of external observance that 
has the melancholy effect of exposing all religious cere- 
monies to contempt. 

It is impossible, in witnessing all these unseemly vagaries, 
not to recognize the advantages of an established church as 
a sort of headquarters for quiet unpresuming Christians, 
who are contented to serve faithfully, without insisting 
upon having each a little separate banner, embroidered with 
a device of their own imagining. 

The Roman Catholics alone appear exempt from the fury 
of division and sub-division that has seized every other 
persuasion. Having the Pope for their common head, regu- 
lates, I presume, their movements, and prevents the out- 
rageous display of individual whim, which every other sect 
is permitted. 

I had the pleasure of being introduced to the Roman 
Catholic bishop of Cincinnati, and have never known in any 
country a priest of a character and bearing more truly 
apostolic. He was an American, but I should never have 
discovered it from his pronunciation or manner. He re- 
ceived his education partly in England, and partly in 
France. His manners were highly polished; his piety ac- 
tive and sincere, and infinitely more mild and tolerant than 
that of the factious Sectarians who form the great ma- 
jority of the American priesthood. 

I believe I am sufficiently tolerant; but this does not 
prevent my seeing that the object of all religious observ- 
ances is better obtained, when the government of the church 
is confided to the wisdom and experience of the most ven- 
erated among the people, than when it is placed in the hands 
of every tinker and tailor who chooses to claim a share in 

96 



OF THE AMERICANS 

jit. Nor is this the only evil attending the want of a 
(national religion^ supported by the State. As there is no 
legal and fixed provision for the clergy, it is hardly sur- 
prising that their services are confined to those who can 
pay them. The vehement expressions of insane or hypo- 
j critical zeal, such as were exhibited during "the Revival/' 
can but ill atone for the want of village worship, any more 
than the eternal talk of the admirable and unequalled gov- 
jernment can atone for the continual contempt of social 
jOrder. Church and State hobble along, side by side, not- 
; withstanding their boasted independence. Almost every 
man you meet will tell you, that he is occupied in labours 
most abundant for the good of his country; and almost 
j every woman will tell you, that besides those things that are 
within (her house), she has coming upon her daily the 
care of all the churches. Yet spite of this universal atten- 
ition to the government, its laws are half asleep; and spite 
jof the old women and their Dorcas societies, atheism is 
'i awake and thriving. 

In the smaller cities and towns, prayer-meetings take the 
place of almost all other amusements; but as the thinly- 
scattered population of most villages can give no parties, 
and pay no priests, they contrive to marry, christen, and 
bury, without them. A stranger taking up his residence 
in any city in America, must think the natives the most 
jreligious people upon earth; but if chance lead him among 
her western villages, he will rarely find either churches or 
chapels, prayer or preacher; except, indeed, at that most 
terrific saturnalia, "a camp-meeting." I was much struck 
with the answer of a poor woman, whom I saw ironing on a 
Sunday. "Do you make no difference in your occupations 
on a Sunday?" I said. "I beant a Christian, Ma'am; we 
have got no opportunity," was the reply. It occurred to me, 
that in a country where "all men are equal," the government 

97 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

would be guilty of no great crime, did it so far interfere as 
to give them all an opportunity of becoming Christians if 
they wished it. But should the federal government dare to 
propose building a church, and endowing it, in some village 
that has never heard "the bringing home of bell and burial," 
it is perfectly certain that not only the sovereign state where 
such an abomination was proposed, would rush into the 
Congress to resent the odious interference, but that all the 
other states would join the clamour, and such an intermed- 
dling administration would run great risk of impeachment 
and degradation. 

Where there is a church government so constituted as to 
deserve human respect, I believe it will always be found 
to receive it, even from those who may not assent to the 
dogma of its creed; and where such respect exists, it pro- 
duces a decorum in manners and language often found want- 
ing where it does not. Sectarians will not venture to rhap- 
sodise, nor infidels to scoff, in the common intercourse of 
society. Both are injurious to the cause of rational re- 
ligion, and to check both, must be advantageous. 

It is certainly possible that some of the fanciful variations 
upon the ancient creeds of the Christian Church, with which 
transatlantic religionists amuse themselves, might inspire 
morbid imaginations in Europe as well as in Ameriea; but 
before they can disturb the solemn harmony here, they 
must prelude by a defiance, not only to common sense, but 
what is infinitely more appalling, to common usage. They 
must at once rank themselves with the low and the illiterate, 
for only such prefer the eloquence of the tub to that of the 
pulpit. The aristocracy must ever, as a body, belong to the 
established Church, and it is but a small proportion of the 
influential classes who would be willing to allow that they 
do not belong to the aristocracy. That such feelings in- 
fluence the professions of men, it were ignorance or hypoc- 

98 



OF THE AMERICANS 

risy to deny; and that nation is wise who knows how to turn 
even such feelings into a wholesome stream of popular 
Influence. 

As a specimen of the tone in which religion is mixed in the 
ordinary intercourse of society^ I will transcribe the notes 
I took of a conversation, at which I was present, at Cincin- 
nati; I wrote them immediately after the conversation took 
olace. 

Dr. A. 

**I wish, Mrs. M., that you would explain to me what 
!i revival is. I hear it talked of all over the city, and I 
know it means something about Jesus Christ and religion; 
but that is all I know, will you instruct me farther?" 

Mrs. M. 

1 "I expect. Dr. A., that you want to laugh at me. But 
;hat makes no difference. I am firm in my principles, and I 
fear no one's laughter." 

Dr. A, 
I 'Well, but what is a revival.^" 

Mrs. M. 

'It is difficult, very difficult, to make those see who have 
10 light; to make those understand whose souls are dark- 
ened. A revival means just an elegant kindling of the 
ipirit ; it is brought about to the Lord's people by the hands 
j)f his saints, and it means salvation in the highest." 

Dr. A. 

■'But what is it the people mean by talking of feeling 
:he revival? and waiting in spirit for the revival? and the 
ecstasy of the revival?" 

99 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

Mrs. M. 

"Oh Doctor ! I am afraid that you are too far gone astray 
to understand all that. It is a glorious assurance, a whis- 
pering of the everlasting covenant, it is the bleating of the | 
lamb, it is the welcome of the shepherd, it is the essence 
of love, it is the fulness of glory, it is being in Jesus, it is 
Jesus being in us, it is taking the Holy Ghost into our 
bosoms, it is sitting ourselves down by God, it is being calledt; 
to the high places, it is eating, and drinking, and sleeping 
in the Lord, it is becoming a lion in the faith, it is being 
lowly and meek, and kissing the hand that smites, it is being 
mighty and powerful, and scorning reproof, it is — " 

Dr. A. 

"Thank you, Mrs. M., I feel quite satisfied; and I think' 
I understand a revival now almost as well as you do your- | 
self." 

Mrs. A. 

"My! Where can you have learnt all that stuiF, Mrs. 

M.r 

Mrs. M. 

"How benighted you are ! From the holy book, from the 
Word of the Lord, from the Holy Ghost, and Jesus Christ 
themselves." 

Mrs. A. 

"It does seem so droll to me, to hear you talk of 'the:' 
Word of the Lord.* Why, I have been brought up to lookj 
upon the Bible as nothing better than an old newspaper." 

Mrs. O. 

"Surely you only say this for the sake of hearing what 
Mrs. M. will say in return — you do not mean it.^" 

100 



OP. THE AMERICANS 
Mrs. A. 



*La, yes ! to be sure I do." 

Dr. A. 



'I profess that I by no means wish my wife to read all she 
might find there. — What says the Colonel^ Mrs. M. ?" 

Mrs. M. 

•; "As to that^ I never stop to ask him. I tell him every 
'day that I believe in Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and that 
it is his duty to believe in them too; and then my conscience 
lis clear, and I don't care what he believes. Really, I have 
no notion of one's husband interfering in such matters." 

Dr. A. 

"You are quite right. I am sure I give my wife leave 
jito believe just what she likes; but she is a good woman, 
and does not abuse the liberty ; for she believes nothing." 

It was not once, nor twice, nor thrice, but many, many 
times, during my residence in America, that I was present 
when subjects which custom as well as principle had taught 
me to consider as fitter for the closet than the tea-table, 
were thus lightly discussed. I hardly know whether I was 
more startled at first hearing, in little dainty namby-pamby 
tones, a profession of Atheism over a tea-cup, or at having 
my attention called from a Johnny cake to a rhapsody on 
election and the second birth. 

|1 But, notwithstanding this revolting licence, persecution 
iexists to a degree unknown, I believe, in our well-ordered 
land since the days of Cromwell. I had the following anec- 
dote from a gentleman perfectly well acquainted with the 
circumstances. A tailor sold a suit of clothes to a sailor 
Ja few moments before he sailed, which was on a Sunday 
morning. The corporation of New York prosecuted the 

101 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

tailor^ and he was convicted^ and sentenced to a fine greatly 
beyond his means to pay. Mr. F.^ a lawyer of New York, 
defended him with much eloquence, but in vain. His pow- 
erful speech, however, was not without effect, for it raised 
him such a host of Presbyterian enemies as sufficed to de- 
stroy his practice. Nor was this all : his nephew was at the 
time preparing for the bar, and soon after the above cir- 
cumstance occurred, his certificates were presented, and re- 
fused, with this declaration, "that no man of the name and 
family of F. should be admitted." I have met this young 
man in society; he is a person of very considerable talent, 
and being thus cruelly robbed of his profession, has be- 
come the editor of a newspaper. 



102 



CHAPTER XII 

Peasantry , compared to that of England — Early 
Marriages — Charity — Independence and equality 
— Cottage prayer-meeting 

Mohawk, as our little village was called, gave us an excel- 
lent opportunity of comparing the peasants of the United 
States with those of England, and of judging the average 
degree of comfort enjoyed by each. I believe Ohio gives 
as fair a specimen as any part of the Union; if they have 
the roughness and inconveniences of a new state to contend 
with, they have higher wages and cheaper provisions; if I 
err in supposing it a mean state in point of comfort, it cer- 
tainly is not in taking too low a standard. 

Mechanics, if good workmen, are certain of employment, 
and good wages, rather higher than with us; the average 
wages of a labourer throughout the Union is ten dollars a 
month, with lodging, boarding, washing, and mending ; if he 
lives at his own expense he has a dollar a day. It appears 
to me that the necessaries of life, that is to say, meat, bread, 
butter, tea, and coffee (not to mention whiskey), are within 
the reach of every sober, industrious, and healthy man who 
chooses to have them; and yet I think that an English 
peasant, with the same qualifications, would, in coming to the 
[United States, change for the worse. He would find wages 
somewhat higher, and provisions in Western America con- 
siderably lower ; but this statement, true as it is, can lead to 
nothing but delusion if taken apart from other facts, fully 
I as certain, and not less important, but which require more 
detail in describing, and which perhaps cannot be fully 
I comprehended, except by an eye-witness. The American 

103 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

poor are accustomed to eat meat three times a day; I never 
inquired into the habits of any cottagers in Western America 
where this was not the case. I -found afterwards in Mary- 
land, Pennsylvania, and other parts of the country, where 
the price of meat was higher, that it was used with more 
economy; yet still a much larger portion of the weekly in- 
come is thus expended than with us. Ardent spirits, though 
lamentably cheap*, still cost something, and the use of 
them among the men, with more or less of discretion, ac- 
cording to the character, is universal. Tobacco also grows 
at their doors, and is not taxed; yet this too costs some- 
thing, and the air of heaven is not in more general use 
among the men of America than chewing tobacco. I am 
not now pointing out the evils of dram-drinking, but it is evi- 
dent that where this practice prevails universally, and often 
to the most frightful excess, the consequence must be, that 
the money spent to obtain the dram is less than the money 
lost by the time consumed in drinking it. Long, disabling, 
and expensive fits of sickness are incontestably more fre- 
quent in every part of America than in England, and the 
sufferers have no aid to look to, but what they have saved, 
or what they may be enabled to sell. I have never seen 
misery exceed what I have witnessed in an American cot- 
tage where disease has entered. 

But if the condition of the labourer be not superior to 
that of the English peasant, that of his wife and daughters 
is incomparably worse. It is they who are indeed the slaves 
of the soil. One has but to look at the wife of an American 
cottager, and ask her age, to be convinced that the life she 
leads is one of hardship, privation, and labour. It is rare 
to see a woman in this station who has reached the age of 
thirty, without losing every trace of youth and beauty. You 

* About a shilling a gallon is the retail price of good whislsey. If 
bought wholesale, or of inferior quality, it is much cheaper. 

104. 1 



OF THE AMERICANS 

y 

continually see women with infants on their knee, that you 
feel sure are their grandchildren, till some convincing proof 
of the contrary is displayed. Even the young girls, though 
often with lovely features, look pale, thin, and haggard. I 
do not remember to have seen in any single instance among ^ 
the poor, a specimen of the plump, rosy, laughing physiog- 
nomy so common among our cottage girls. The horror of 
domestic service, which the reality of slavery, and the fable 
of equality, have generated, excludes the young women from 
that sure and most comfortable resource of decent English 
I girls; and the consequence is, that with a most irreverend 
[freedom of manner to the parents, the daughters are, to the 
full extent of the word, domestic slaves. This condition, 
which no periodical merry-making, no village ^te, ever oc- 
curs to cheer, is only changed for the still sadder burdens 
of a teeming wife. They marry very young; in fact, in no 
rank of life do you meet with young women in that delight- 
ful period of existence between childhood and marriage, 
wherein, if only tolerably well spent, so much useful in- 
formation is gained, and the character takes a sufficient 
degree of firmness to support with dignity the more im- 
portant parts of wife and mother. The slender, childish 
thing, without vigour of mind or body, is made to stem a 
sea of troubles that dims her young eye and makes her 
cheek grow pale, even before nature has given it the last 
beautiful finish of the full-grown woman. 

*'We shall get along," is the answer in full for all that 
can be said in way of advice to a boy and girl who take it 
into their heads to go before a magistrate and "get mar- 
ried." And they do get along, till sickness overtakes them, 
by means perhaps of borrowing a kettle from one and a 
tea-pot from another; but intemperance, idleness, or sick- 
ness will, in one week, plunge those who are even getting 

105 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

along well into utter destitution; and where this happens, 
they are completely without resource. 

The absence of poor-laws is, without doubt, a blessing to 
the country, but they have not that natural and reasonable 
dependence on the richer classes which, in countries diiFer- 
ently constituted, may so well supply their place. I suppose 
there is less alms-giving in America than in any other Chris- 
tian country on the face of the globe. It is not in the tem- 
per of the people either to give or to receive. 

I extract the following pompous passage from a Wash- 
ington paper of Feb. 1829, (a season of uncommon severity 
and distress,) which, I think, justifies my observation. 

"Among the liberal evidences of sympathy for the suf- 
fering poor of this city, two have come to our knowledge 
which deserve to be especially noticed: the one a donation 
by the President of the United States to the committee of 
the ward in which he resides of fifty dollars; the other the 
donation by a few of the officers of the war department to 
the Howard and Dorcas Societies, of seventy-two dollars." 
When such mention is made of a gift of about nine pounds 
sterling from the sovereign magistrate of the United States, 
and of thirteen pounds sterling as a contribution from one 
of the state departments, the inference is pretty obvious, 
that the sufferings of the destitute in America are not liber- 
ally relieved by individual charity. 

I had not been three days at Mohawk Cottage before a 
pair of ragged children came to ask for medicine for a sick 
mother ; and when it was given to them, the eldest produced 
a handful of cents, and desired to know what he was to pay. 
The superfluous milk of our cow was sought after eagerly, 
but every new comer always proposed to pay for it. When 
they found out that "the English old woman" did not sell 
any thing, I am persuaded they by no means liked her the 
better for it; but they seemed to think, that if she were a 

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OF THE AMERICANS 

fool it was no reason they should be so too, and accordingly 
the borrowing, as they called it, became very constant, but 
always in a form that showed their dignity and freedom. 
One woman sent to borrow a pound of cheese; another half 
a pound of coffee; and more than once an intimation ac- 
companied the milk-jug, that the milk must be fresh and 
unskimmed: on one occasion the messenger refused milk, 
and said, "Mother only wanted a little cream for her 

coffee." 

I could never teach them to believe, during above a year 
that I lived at this house, that I would not sell the old 
clothes of the family ; and so pertinacious were they in bar- 
gain-making, that often, when I had given them the articles 
which they wanted to purchase, they would say, "Well, I 
expect I shall have to do a turn of work for this; you may 
send for me when you want me." But as I never did ask 
for the turn of work, and as this formula was constantly 
repeated, I began to suspect that it was spoken solely to 
avoid uttering that most un-American phrase, "I thank 

you. 

There was one man whose progress in wealth I watched 
with much interest and pleasure. When I first became his 
neighbour, himself, his wife, and four children were living 
in one room, with plenty of beef-steaks and onions for 
breakfast, dinner, and supper, but with very few other com- 
forts. He was one of the finest men I ever saw, full of 
natural intelligence and activity of mind and body, but he 
could neither read nor write. He drank but little whiskey, 
and but rarely chewed tobacco, and was therefore more 
free from that plague spot of spitting, which rendered male 
colloquy so difficult to endure. He worked for us frequent- 
ly, and often used to walk into the drawing-room and seat 
himself on the sofa, and tell me all his plans. He made 
an engagement with the proprietor of the wooded hill 

107 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

before mentioned, by which half the wood he could fell was 
to be his own. His unwearied industry made this a profit- 
able bargain, and from the proceeds he purchased the ma- 
terials for building a comfortable frame (or wooden) house; 
he did the work almost entirely himself. He then got a job 
for cutting rails; and as he could cut twice as many in a 
day as any other man in the neighbourhood, he made a good 
thing of it. He then let half his pretty house, which was 
admirably constructed, with an ample portico, that kept it 
always cool. His next step was contracting for the build- 
ing a wooden bridge, and when I left Mohawk, he had fitted 
up his half of the building as an hotel and grocery store; 
and I have no doubt that every sun that sets sees him a 
richer man than when it rose. He hopes to make his son 
a lawyer ; and I have little doubt that he will live to see him 
sit in Congress. When this time arrives, the wood-cutter's 
son will rank with any other member of Congress, not of 
courtesy, but of right: and the idea that his origin is a dis- 
advantage, will never occur to the imagination of the most 
exalted of his fellow-citizens. 

This is the only feature in American society that I recog- 
nise as indicative of the equality they profess. Any man's 
son may become the equal of any other man's son; and the 
consciousness of this is certainly a spur to exertion: on the 
other hand, it is also a spur to that coarse familiarity, un- 
tempered by any shadow of respect, which is assumed by 
the grossest and the lowest in their intercourse with the 
highest and most refined. This is a positive evil, and, I 
think, more than balances its advantages. 

And here again it may be observed, that the theory of 
equality may be very daintily discussed by English gentle- 
men in a London dining-room, when the servant, having 
placed a fresh bottle of cool wine on the table, respectfully 
shuts the door and leaves them to their walnuts and their 

108 



OP THE AMERICANS 

wisdom ; but it will be found less palatable when it presents 
itself in the shape of a hard, greasy paw, and is claimed in 
accents that breathe less of freedom than of onions and 
whiskey. Strong, indeed, must be the love of equality in an 
English breast, if it can survive a tour through the Union. 
I There was one house in the village which was remarkable 
from its wretchedness. It had an air of indecent poverty 
about it, which long prevented my attempting an entrance; 
but at length, upon being told that I could get chicken and 
eggs there whenever I wanted them, I determined upon 
v^enturing. The door being opened to my knock, I very 
nearly abandoned my almost blunted purpose; I never be- 
lield such a den of filth and misery: a woman, the very 
image of dirt and disease, held a squalid imp of a baby on 
her hip-bone, while she kneaded her dough with her right 
fist only. A great lanky girl, of twelve years old, was sit- 
ting on a barrel, gnawing a corn cob. When I made known 
my business, the woman answered, "No, not I; I got no 
chickens to sell, nor eggs neither; but my son will, plenty 
I expect. Here, Nick," (bawling at the bottom of a lad- 
der,) "here's an old woman what wants chickens." Half a 
moment brought Nick to the bottom of the ladder, and I 
found my merchant was one of a ragged crew, whom I had 
been used to observe in my daily walk, playing marbles in 
the dust, and swearing lustily; he looked about ten years 
old. 

"Have you chickens to sell, my boy ?" 
"Yes, and eggs too, more nor what you'll buy." 
Having inquired price, condition, and so on, I recollected 
that I had been used to give the same price at market, the 
feathers plucked, and the chicken prepared for the table, 
and I told him that he ought not to charge the same. 

"Oh for that, I expect I can fix *em as well as ever them 
jWas what you got in market." 

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I 



DOMESTIC MANNEKS 

"You fix them!" 

"Yes^ to be sure; why not?" 

"I thought you were too fond of marbles." 

He gave me a keen glance, and said, "You don't know 
I. — When will you be wanting the chickens ?" 

He brought them at the time directed, extremely well ii 
"fixed," and I often dealt with him afterwards. When I 
paid him, he always thrust his hand into his breeches pocket, 
which I presume, as being the keep, was fortified more 
strongly than the dilapidated outworks, and drew from i 
thence rather more dollars, half-dollars, levies, and fips, 
than his dirty little hand could well hold. My curiosity was 
excited; and though I felt an involuntary disgust towards 
the young Jew, I repeatedly conversed with him. 

"You are very rich, Nick," I said to him one day, on his 
making an ostentatious display of change, as he called it; 
he sneered with a most unchildish expression of coun- 
tenance, and replied, "I guess 'twould be a bad job for I if 
that was all I'd got to show." || 

I asked him how he managed his business. He told me 
that he bought eggs by the hundred, and lean chickens by 
the score, from the waggons that passed their door on the 
way to market; that he fatted the later in coops he had ^ 
made himself, and could easily double their price, and that 
his eggs answered well too, when he sold them out by the 
dozen. 

"And do you give the money to your mother?" 

"I expect not," was the answer, with another sharp 
glance of his ugly blue eyes. 

"What do you do with it, Nick?" 

His look said plainly. What is that to you? but he only 
answered, quaintly enough, "I takes care of it." 

How Nick got his first dollar is very doubtful : I was told 
that when he entered the village store, the person serving 

110 



OF THE AMERICANS 

ilways called in another pair of eyes; but having obtained 
t, the spirit, activity, and industry, with which he caused 
t to increase and multiply, would have been delightful in 
me of Miss Edgeworth's dear little clean bright-looking 
)oys, who would have carried all he got to his mother ; but in 

I ?v[ ick it was detestable. No human feeling seemed to warm 
lis young heart, not even the love of self-indulgence ; for he 
vas not only ragged and dirty, but looked considerably 
nore than half-starved, and I doubt not his dinners and 
i!uppers half fed his fat chickens. 

i I by no means give this history of Nick, the chicken 
inerchant, as an anecdote characteristic in all respects of 
\merica; the only part of the story which is so, is the in- 
lependence of the little man, and is one instance out of a 
housand, of the hard, dry, calculating character that is 
he result of it. Probably Nick will be very rich; perhaps 

l!ie will be President. I once got so heartily scolded for say- 
ng, that I did not think all American citizens were equally 
;ligible to that office, that I shall never again venture to 

,ioubt it. 

I'J Another of our cottage acquaintance was a market- 
gardener, from whom we frequently bought vegetables; 
^Yom the wife of this man we one day received a very civil 

, nvitation to "please to come and pass the evening with them 

Ijn prayer." The novelty of the circumstance, and its great 
lissimilarity to the ways and manners of our own country, 
nduced me to accept the invitation, and also to record the 
/isit here. 

li We were received with great attention, and a place was 
issigned us on one of the benches that surrounded the little 
Darlour. Several persons, looking like mechanics and their 
kvives, were present; every one sat in profound silence, and 
with that quiet subdued air, that serious people assume on 
entering a church. At length, a long, black, grim looking 

111 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

man entered ; his dress, the cut of his hair, and liis whole 
appearance, strongly recalled the idea of one of Crom- 
well's fanatics. He stepped solemnly into the middle of 
the room, and took a chair that stood there, but not to sit 
upon it ; he turned the back towards him, on which he placed 
his hands, and stoutly uttering a sound between a hem and 
a cough, he deposited freely on either side of him a con- 
siderable portion of masticated tobacco. He then began to 
preach. His text was **Live in hope," and he continued to 
expound it for two hours in a drawling, nasal tone, with noi 
other respite than what he allowed himself for expectora- 
tion. If I say that he repeated the words of his text a hun- 
dred times, I think I shall not exceed the truth, for that 
allows more than a minute for each repetition, and in fact 
the whole discourse was made up of it. The various tones 
in which he utttered it might have served as a lesson on 
emphasis; as a question — in accents of triumph — in accents 
of despair — of pity — of threatening — of authority — of 
doubt — of hope — of faith. Having exhausted every im- 
aginable variety of tone, he abruptly said, "Let us pray," 
and twisting his chair round, knelt before it. Every one 
knelt before the seat they had occupied, and listened for 
another half hour to a rant of miserable, low, familiar jar- 
gon, that he presumed to improvise to his Maker as a 
prayer. In this, however, the cottage apostle only fol- 
lowed the example set by every preacher throughout the 
Union, excepting those of the Episcopalian and Catholic 
congregations ; they only do not deem themselves privileged 
to address the Deity in strains of crude and unweighed 
importunity. These ranters may sometimes be very much in 
earnest, but surely the least we can say of it is, that they 

"Praise their Go^ amiss." 

I inquired afterwards of a friend, well acquainted with 

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such matters^ how the grim preacher of "Hope" got paid 
for his labours, and he told me that the trade was an ex- 
cellent one, for that many a gude wife bestowed more than 
a tithe of what her gude man trusted to her keeping, in 
rewarding the zeal of these self-chosen apostles. These 
sable ministers walk from house to house, or if the dis- 
tance be considerable, ride on a comfortable ambling nag. 
They are not only as empty as wind, but resemble it in 
other particulars; for they blow where they list, and no 
man knoweth whence they come, nor whither they go. 
When they see a house that promises comfortable lodging 
and entertainment, they enter there, and say to the good 
woman of the house, "Sister, shall I pray with you?" If 
the answer be favourable, and it is seldom otherwise, he in- 
stalls himself and his horse till after breakfast the next 
morning. The best meat, drink, and lodging are his, while 
he stays, and he seldom departs without some little contri- 
bution in money for the support of the crucified and suf- 
fering church. Is it not strange that "the most intelligent 
people in the world" should prefer such a religion as this, 
to a form established by the wisdom and piety of the ablest 
and best among the erring sons of men, solemnly sanc- 
tioned by the nation's law, and rendered sacred by the use 
of their fathers? 

It would be well for all reasoners on the social system 
to observe steadily, and with an eye obscured by no beam 
of prejudice, the result of the experiment that is making 
on the other side of the Atlantic. If I mistake not, they 
might learn there, better than by any abstract speculation, 
what are the points on which the magistrates of a great 
people should dictate to them, and on what points they 
should be left freely to their own guidance. I sincerely 
believe, that if a fire-worshipper, or an Indian Brahmin, 
were to come to the United States, prepared to preach and 

113 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

pray in English^ he would not be long without a "very re- 
spectable congregation." 

The influence of a religion, sanctioned by the government, 
could in no country, in the nineteenth century, interfere 
with the speculations of a philosopher in his closet, but it 
might, and must, steady the weak and wavering opinions of 
the multitude. There is something really pitiable in the 
effect produced by the want of this rudder oar. I knew a 
family where one was a Methodist, one a Presbyterian, and 
a third a Baptist; and another, where one was a Quaker, 
one a declared Atheist, and another an Universalist. These 
are all females, and all moving in the best society that 
America affords; but one and all of them as incapable of 
reasoning on things past, present, and to come, as the in- 
fants they nourish, yet one and all of them perfectly fit to 
move steadily and usefully in a path marked out for them. 
But I shall be called an itinerant preacher myself if I 
pursue this theme. 

As I have not the magic power of my admirable friend, 
Miss Mitford, to give grace and interest to the humblest 
rustic details, I must not venture to linger among the cot- 
tages that surrounded us; but before I quit them I must 
record the pleasing recollection of one or two neighbours 
of more companionable rank, from whom I received so 
much friendly attention, and such unfailing kindness, in all 
my little domestic embarrassments, that I shall never recall 
the memory of Mohawk, without paying an affectionate 
tribute to these far distant friends. I wish it were within 
the range of hope, that I might see them again in my own^ 
country, and repay, in part, the obligations I owe them. 



114 



CHAPTER XIII 

Theatre — Fine Arts — Delicacy — SJiaJcing QuaJcers 
— Big-Bone Lick — Visit of the President 

The theatre at Cincinnati is small, and not very brilliant 
in decoration, but in the absence of every other amusement 
our young men frequently attended it, and in the bright 
clear nights of autumn and winter, the mile and a half of 
distance was not enough to prevent the less enterprising 
members of the family from sometimes accompanying them. 
The great inducement to this was the excellent acting of 
Mr. and INIrs. Alexander Drake*, the managers. Nothing 
could be more distinct than their line of acting, but the 
great versatility of their powers enabled them often to 
appear together. Her cast was the highest walk of tragedy, 
and his the broadest comedy; but yet, as Goldsmith says of 
his sister heroines, I have known them change characters 
for a whole evening together, and have wept with him, and 
laughed with her, as it was their will and pleasure to or- 
dain. I think in his comedy he was superior to any actor 
I ever saw in the same parts, except Emery. Alexander 
Drake's comedy was like that of the French, who never 
appear to be acting at all; he was himself the comic being 
the author aimed at depicting. Let him speak whose words 
he would, from Shakspeare to Colman, it was impossible 
not to feel that half the fun was his own ; he had, too, in a 
very high degree, the power that Fawcett possessed, of 
drawing tears by a sudden touch of natural feeling. His 
comic songs might have set the gravity of the judges and 
bishops together at defiance. Liston is great, but Alex- 
ander Drake was greater. 

* Mr. Drake was an Englishman. 

115 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

Mrs. Drake^ formerly Miss Denny, greatly resembles 
Miss O'Neil; a proof of this is^ that Mr. Kean, who had 
heard of the resemblance,, arrived at New York late in the 
evening, and having repaired to the theatre, saw her for 
the first time across the stage, and immediately exclaimed, 
"that's Miss Denny." Her voice, too, has the same rich 
and touching tones, and is superior in power. Her talent 
is decidedly first-rate. Deep and genuine feeling, correct 
judgment, and the most perfect good taste, distinguish 
her play in every character. Her last act of Belvidera is 
superior in tragic effect to any thing I ever saw on the 
stage, the one great exception to all comparison, Mrs. Sid- 
dons, being set aside. 

It was painful to see these excellent performers playing 
to a miserable house, not a third full, and the audience 
probably not including half a dozen persons who would 
prefer their playing to that of the vilest strollers. In 
proof of this, I saw them, as managers, give place to paltry 
third-rate actors from London, who would immediately 
draw crowded houses, and be overwhelmed with applause. 

Poor Drake died just before we left Ohio, and his wife, 
who, besides her merit as an actress, is a most estimable 
and amiable woman, is left with a large family. I have 
little, or rather no doubt, of her being able to obtain an 
excellent engagement in London, but her having property 
in several of the Western theatres will, I fear, detain her in 
a neighbourhood where she is neither understood nor appre- 
ciated. She told me many very excellent professional anec- 
dotes collected during her residence in the West; one of 
these particularly amused me as a specimen of Western 
idiom. A lady who professed a great admiration for Mrs. 
Drake had obtained her permission to be present upon one 
occasion at her theatrical toilet. She was dressing for 
some character in which she was to stab herself, and her 

116 



II OF THE AMERICANS 

jiagger was lying on the table. The visitor took it up, and 
examining it with much emotion, exclaimed, ''What! do you 
•eally jab this into yourself sevagarous?" 

We also saw the great American star, Mr. Forrest. 
^Vhat he may become I will not pretend to prophesy; but 
.vhen I saw him plaj^ Hamlet at Cincinnati, not even Mrs. 
Drake's sweet Ophelia could keep me beyond the third act. 
It is true that I have seen Kemble, Macready, Kean, Young, 
C. Kemble, Cook, and Talma play Hamlet, and I might 
lot, perhaps, be a very fair judge of this young actor's 
^erits; but I was greatly amused when a gentleman, who 
isked my opinion of him, told me, upon hearing it, that 
le would not advise me to state it freely in America, "for 
;hey would not bear it." 

j The theatre was really not a bad one, though the very 
30or receipts rendered it impossible to keep it in high order ; 
3ut an annoyance infinitely greater than decorations indif- 
xrently clean, was the style and manner of the audience. 
VI en came into the lower tier of boxes without their coats; 
md I have seen shirt sleeves tucked up to the shoulder; 
he spitting was incessant, and the mixed smell of onions 
md whiskey was enough to make one feel even the Drakes' 
icting dearly bought by the obligation of enduring its ac- 
companiments. The bearing and attitudes of the men are 
perfectly indescribable; the heels thrown higher than the 
lead, the entire rear of the person presented to the audi- 
ence, the whole length supported on the benches, are among 
;he varieties that these exquisite posture-masters exhibit, 
frhe noises, too, were perpetual, and of the most unpleasant 
dnd; the applause is expressed by cries and thumping with 
;he feet, instead of clapping; and when a patriotic fit 
jeized them, and "Yankee Doodle" was called for, every 
l^aan seemed to think his reputation as a citizen depended 
pn the noise he made. 

117 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

Two very indiiFerent figurantes^ probably from the Am- 
bigu Comique^ or la Gaiete^ made their appearance at Cin- 
cinnati while we were there; and had Mercury stepped 
down^ and danced a fas seul upon earthy his godship could 
not have produced a more violent sensation. But wonder 
and admiration were by no means the only feelings excited; 
horror and dismay were produced in at least an equal de- 
gree. No one_, I believe, doubted their being admirable 
dancers, but every one agreed that the morals of the West- 
ern world would never recover the shock. When I was 
asked if I had ever seen any thing so dreadful before, 1 1 
was embarrassed how to answer; for the young women had ' 
been exceedingly careful, both in their dress and in their 
dancing, to meet the taste of the people; but had it been i 
Virginie in her most transparent attire, or Taglioni in her 
most remarkable pirouette, they could not have been more 
reprobated. The ladies altogether forsook the theatre; the 
gentlemen muttered under their breath, and turned their 
heads aside when the subj ect was mentioned ; the clergy 
denounced them from the pulpit; and if they were named 
at the meetings of the saints, it was to show how deep the 
horror such a theme could produce. I could not but ask 
myself if virtue were a plant, thriving under one form in 
one country, and flourishing under a different one in an- 
other? If these Western Americans are right, then how 
dreadfully wrong are we ! It is really a very puzzling 
subj ect. 

But this was not the only point on which I found my 
notions of right and wrong utterly confounded; hardly a ij 
day passed in which I did not discover that something or f 
other that I had been taught to consider as lawful eating, 
was held in abhorrence by those around me ; many words to 3| 
which I had never heard an objectionable meaning attached, ,:| 
were totally interdicted, and the strangest paraphrastic sen- 

118 



OF THE AMERICANS 

I tences substituted. I confess it struck me, that notwithstand- 
ing a general stiffness of manner, which I think must ex- 
jceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, the Americans have 
' imaginations that kindle with alarming facility. I could 
gi^•e manj^ anecdotes to prove this, but will content myself 
with a few. 

A young German gentleman of perfectly good manners, 

once came to me greatly chagrined at having offended one 

of the principal families in the neighbourhood, by having 

I pronounced the word corset before the ladies of it. An 

jold female friend had kindly overcome her own feelings 

I so far as to mention to him the cause of the coolness he had 

remarked, and strongly advised his making an apology. 

He told me that he was perfectly well disposed to do so, 

but felt himself greatly at a loss how to word it. 

An English lady who had long kept a fashionable board- 
ing-school in one of the Atlantic cities, told me that one of 
her earliest cares with every new comer, was the endeavour 
I to substitute real delicacy for this affected precision of man- 
i ner ; among many anecdotes she told me one of a young 
lady about fourteen, who on entering the receiving room, 
; where she only expected to see a lady who had inquired for 
I her, and finding a young man with her, put her hands be- 
fore her eyes, and ran out of the room again, screaming 
,■ "A man ! a man ! a man \" 

On another occasion, one of the young ladies in going 
I up stairs to the drawing-room, unfortunately met a boy of 
.fourteen coming down, and her feelings were so violently 
agitated, that she stopped, panting and sobbing, nor would 
{pass on till the boy had swung himself up on the upper 
I banisters, to leave the passage free. 

I At Cincinnati there is a garden where the people go to 

eat ices, and to look at roses. For the preservation of the 

. flowers, there is placed at the end of one of the walks a sign- 

119 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

post sort of daub^ representing a Swiss peasant girl, holding 
in her hand a scroll, requesting that the roses might not be 
gathered. UnhapjDily for the artist, or for the proprietor, 
or for both, the petticoat of this figure was so short as to 
shaw her ancles. The ladies saw, and shuddered; and it 
was formally intimated to the proj^rietor, that if he wished 
for the patronage of the ladies of Cincinnati, he must have 
the petticoat of this figure lengthened. The affrighted 
purveyor of ices sent off an express for the artist and his 
paint pot. He came, but unluckily not provided with any 
colour that would match the petticoat; the necessity, how- 
ever, was too urgent for delay, and a flounce of blue was 
added to the petticoat of red, giving bright and shining evi- 
dence before all men, of the immaculate delicacy of the Cin- 
cinnati ladies. 

I confess I was sometimes tempted to suspect that this 
ultra refinement was not very deep seated. It often ap- 
peared to me like the consciousness of grossness, that 
wanted a veil; but the veil was never gracefully adjusted. 
Occasionally, indeed, the very same persons who appeared 
ready to faint at the idea of a statue, would utter some 
unaccountable sally that was quite startling, and which 
made me feel that the indelicacy of which we were accused 
had its limits. The following anecdote is hardly fit to tell, 
but it explains what I mean too well to be omitted. 

A young married lady, of high standing and most fastid- 
ious delicacy, who had been brought up at one of the Atlan- 
tic seminaries of highest reputation, told me that her house, 
at the distance of half a mile from a poj)ulous city, was un- 
fortunately opposite a mansion of worse than doubtful rejD- 
utation. "It is abominable," she said, "to see the people 
that go there; they ought to be exposed. I and another 
lady, an intimate friend of mine, did make one of them look 
foolish enough last summer: she was passing the day with 

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OF THE AMERICANS 

me, and while we were sitting at the window^ we saw a 
young man we both knew ride up there; we went into the 
harden and watched at the gate for him to come back, and 
kvhen he did, we both stepped out, and I said to him. Are 
you not ashamed, Mr. William D., to ride by my house and 
back again in that manner?' I never saw a man look so 
foolish." 

In conversing with ladies on the customs and manners 
bf Europe, I remarked a strong propensity to consider 
svery thing as wrong to which they were not accustomed. 

I once mentioned to a young lady that I thought a pic-nic 
party would be very agreeable, and that I would propose it 
to some of our friends. She agreed that it would be de- 
lightful, but she added, "I fear you will not succeed; we 
are not used to such sort of things here, and I know it is 
considered very indelicate for ladies and gentlemen to sit 
down together on the grass." 

I could multiply anecdotes of this nature; but I think 
these sufficient to give an accurate idea of the tone of man- 
ipers in this particular, and I trust to justify the observa- 
tions I have made. 

, One of the spectacles which produced the greatest aston- 
ishment on us all was the Republican simplicity of the courts 
m justice. We had heard that the judges indulged them- 
selves on the bench in those extraordinary attitudes which, 
doubtless, some peculiarity of the American formation leads 
them to find the m^ost comfortable. Of this we were deter- 
mined to judge for ourselves, and accordingly entered the 
[court when it was in full business, with three judges on the 
[bench. 

I Our winter passed rapidly away, and pleasantly enough, 
'by the help of frosty walks, a little skating, a visit to Big- 
Bone Lick, and a visit to the shaking Quakers, a good deal 
i| 

'f 121. 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

of chess^ and a good deal of reading, notwithstanding we 
were almost in the back woods of Western America. 

The excursion to Big-Bone Lick, in Kentucky, and that 
to the Quaker village, were too fatiguing for females at 
such a season, but our gentlemen brought us home mammoth 
bones and shaking Quaker stories in abundance. 

These singular people, the shaking Quakers of America, 
give undeniable proof that communities may exist and pros- 
per, for they have continued for many years to adhere 
strictly to this manner of life, and have been constantly in- 
creasing in wealth. They have formed two or three differ- 
ent societies in distant parts of the Union, all governed by 
the same general laws, and all uniformly prosperous- and 
flourishing. 

There must be some sound and wholesome principle at 
work in these establishments to cause their success in every 
undertaking, and this principle must be a powerful one, for 
it has to combat much that is absurd, and much that is mis- 
chievous. 

The societies are generally composed of about an equal 
proportion of males and females, many of them being men 
and their wives ; but they are all bound by their laws not to 
cohabit together. Their religious observances are wholly 
confined to singing and dancing of the most grotesque kind^ 
and this repeated so constantly as to occupy much time; 
yet these people become rich and powerful wherever they 
settle themselves. Wliatever they manufacture, whatever 
their farms produce, is always in the highest repute, and 
brings the highest price in the market. They receive all 
strangers with great courtesy, and if they bring an intro- 
duction they are lodged and fed for any length of time they 
choose to stay; they are not asked to join in their labours, 
but are permitted to do so if they wish it. 

122 



i 



OF THE AMERICANS 

I The Big-Bone Lick was not visited, and even partially 
iixamined, without considerable fatigue. 
• It appeared from the account of our travellers, that the 
Ijpot which gives the region its elegant name is a deep bed 
)f blue-clay, tenacious and unsound, so much so as to render 
it both difficult and dangerous to traverse. The digging it 
las been found so laborious, that no one has yet hazarded 
:he expense of a complete search into its depths for the 
3-igantic relics so certainly hidden there. The clay has 
never been moved without finding some of them; and I 
think it can hardly be doubted that money and perseverance 
would procure a more perfect specimen of an entire mam- 
oioth than we have yet seen*. 

j And now the time arrived that our domestic circle was 
kgain to be broken up. Our eldest son was to be entered 
at Oxford, and it was necessary that his father should ac- 
company him; and, after considerable indecision, it was 
^t length determined that I and my daughters should remain 
another year with our second son. It was early in Febru- 
ary, and our travellers prepared themselves to encounter 
some sharp gales upon the mountains, though the great 
'severity of the cold appeared to be past. We got buffalo 
robes and double shoes prepared for them, and they were 
on the eve of departure when we heard that General Jack- 
son, the newly-elected President, was expected to arrive im- 
mediately at Cincinnati, from his residence in the West, and 
jto proceed by steamboat to Pittsburgh, on his way to Wash- 
ington. This determined them not to fix the day of their 
departure till they heard of his arrival, and then, if possi- 
ble, to start in the same boat with him; the decent dignity 
of a private conveyance not being deemed necessary for the 
President of the United States. 

* Since the above was written, an immense skeleton, nearly per- 
il feet, lias been extracted. 

US 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

The day of his arrival was however quite uncertain, and 
we could only determine to have every thing very perfectly 
in readiness, let it come when it would. This resolution 
was hardly acted upon when the news reached us that the 
General had arrived at Louisville, and was expected at Cin- 
cinnati in a few hours. All was bustle and hurry at Md^ j 
hawk-cottage ; we quickly dispatched our packing business, 
and this being the first opportunity we had had of witness- 
ing such a demonstration of popular feeling, we all deter- 
mined to be present at the debarkation of the great man. 
We accordingly walked to Cincinnati, and secured a favour- 
able station at the landing-place, both for the purpose of 
seeing the first magistrate, and of observing his reception 
by the people. We had waited but a few moments when 
the heavy panting of the steam-engines and then a discharge 
of cannon told that we were just in time; another moment 
brought his vessel in sight. 

Nothing could be better of its kind than his approach to 
the shore: the noble steam-boat which conveyed him was 
flanked on each side by one of nearly equal size and splen- 
dour; the roofs of all three were covered by a crowd of men; 
cannon saluted them from the shore as they passed by, to 
the distance of a quarter of a mile above the town; there 
they turned about, and came down the river with a rapid but 
stately motion, the three vessels so close together as to ap- 
pear one mighty mass upon the water. 

When they arrived opposite the principal landing they 
swept gracefully round, and the side vessels separating 
themselves from the centre, fell a few feet back, permitting 
her to approach before them with her honoured freight. 
All this manoeuvring was extremely well executed, and 
really beautiful. M 

The crowd on the shore awaited her arrival in perfect 
stillness. When she touched the bank the people on board 

124 ^ 



OF THE AMERICANS 

gave a faint huzza, but it was answered by no note of wel- 
come from the land: this cold silence was certainly not pro- 
duced by any want of friendly feeling towards the new 
President; during the whole of the canvassing he had been 
decidedly the popular candidate at Cincinnati, and for 
months past, we had been accustomed to the cry of *' Jack- 
son for ever" from an overwhelming majority; but enthu- 
siasm is not either the virtue or the vice of America. 
j More than one private carriage was stationed at the 
water's edge to await the General's orders, but they were 
dismissed with the information that he would walk to the 
hotel. Upon receiving this intimation the silent crowd 
[divided itself in a very orderly manner, leaving a space for 
him to walk through them. He did so, uncovered, though 
the distance was considerable, and the weather very cold; 
but he alone (with the exception of a few European gentle- 
men who were present) was without a hat. He wore his 
gray hair, carelessly, but not ungracefully arranged, and, 
spite of his harsh gaunt features, he looked like a gentleman 
and a soldier. He was in deep mourning, having very re- 
cently lost his wife ; they were said to have been very happy 
together, and I was pained by hearing a voice near me ex- 
claim, as he approached the spot where I stood, *'There goes 
Jackson, where is his wife?" Another sharp voice, at a 
little distance, cried, 'Adams for ever !" And these sounds 
were all I heard to break the silence. 

j "They manage these matters better" in the East, I have 
no doubt, but as yet I was still in the West, and still in- 
clined to think, that, however meritorious the American 
character may be, it is not amiable. 

Mr. T. and his sons joined the group of citizens who 
waited upon him to the hotel, and were presented to the 
President in form; that is, they shook hands with him. 
Learning that he intended to remain a few hours there, or 

f 125 



DOMESTIC MANNEKS 

more properly, that it would be a few hours before tb 
steam-boat would be ready to proceed, Mr. T. secured berthi 
on board, and returned, to take a hasty dinner with us. Ai 
the hour appointed by the captain, Mr. T. and his soi 
accompanied the General on board ; and by subsequent let 
ters I learnt that they had conversed a good deal with him 
and were pleased by his conversation and manners, bul 
deeply disgusted by the brutal familiarity to which thej 
saw him exposed at every place on their progress at whicl 
they stopped; I am tempted to quote one passage, as suffii 
ciently descriptive of the manner, which so painfully gratecej 
against their European feelings. I 

"There was not a hulking boy from a keel-boat who waiq 
not introduced to the President, unless, indeed, as was tht| 
case with some, they introduced themselves: for instance, ] 
was at his elbow when a greasy fellow accosted him thus : — 

" 'General Jackson, I guess ?' 

**The General bowed assent. 

" 'Why they told me you was dead.' 

" 'No ! Providence has hitherto preserved my life.' 

** 'And is your wife alive too ?' 

"The General, apparently much hurt, signified the con-i| 
trary, upon which the courtier concluded his harangue bj 
saying, 'Ay, I thought it was the one or the t'other of ye.' '' 



I 



126 



CHAPTER XIV 

American Spring — Controversy between Messrs, 
Owen and Campltell — Public ball — Separation of 
the seooes — American freedom — Execution 

The American spring is by no means so agreeable as the 
American autumn; both move with faltering step, and slow; 
but this lingering pace, which is delicious in autumn, is most 
tormenting in the spring. In the one case you are about 
to part with a friend, who is becoming more gentle and 
agreeable at every step, and such steps can hardly be made 
too slowly; but in the other, you are making your escape 
from a dreary cavern, where you have been shut up with 
black frost and biting blasts, and where your best consola- 
tion was being smoke-dried. 

But, upon second thoughts, I believe it would be more 
orrect, instead of complaining of the slow pace of the 
A.merican spring, to declare that they have no spring at all. 
riie beautiful autumn often lingers on till Christmas, after 
ivhich winter can be trifled with no longer, and generally 
ieeps a stubborn hold through the months which we call 
spring, when he suddenly turns his back, and summer takes 
lis place. 

The inconceivable uncertainty of the climate is, however, 
mch, that I will not venture to state about what time this 
ibhange takes place ; for it is certain, that let me name what 
time I would, it would be easy for any weather journaliser 
to prove me wrong, by quoting that the thermometer was at 
100 at a period which my statement included in the winter; 
X 50, long after I made the summer commence. 

The climate of England is called uncertain; but it can 

127 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

never, I think, be so described by any who have experience 
that of the United States. A gentleman, on whose accurac; 
I could depend, told me he had repeatedly known the ther 
mometer vary above 40 degrees in the space of twelve hours 
This most unpleasant caprice of the temperature is, I con 
ceive, one cause of the unhealthiness of the climate. 

At length, however, after shivering and shaking till w 
were tired of it, and having been half ruined in fire-wood 
(which, by the way, is nearly as dear as at Paris, and dearer 
in many parts of the Union,) the summer burst upon uij 
full blown, and the ice-house, the piazza, and the jalousies I 
were again in full requisition. 

It was in the early summer of this year (1829) that Cim 
cinnati offered a spectacle unprecedented, I believe, in an; 
age or country. Mr. Owen, of Lanark, of New Harmony 
of Texas, well known to the world by all or either of thesi 
additions, had challenged the whole religious public of th< 
United States to discuss with him publicly the truth or false 
hood of all the religions that had ever been propagate( 
on the face of the earth; stating further, that he undertool 
to prove that they were all equally false, and nearly equally 
mischievous. This most appalling challenge was conveyec 
to the world through the medium of New Orleans news 
papers, and for some time it remained unanswered ; at lengtl 
the Reverend Alexander Campbell, from Bethany, (not o1 
Judaea, but of Kentucky,) proclaimed, through the sam( 
medium, that he was ready to take up the gauntlet. Th< 
place fixed for this extraordinary discussion was Cincin- 
nati; the time, the second Monday in May, 1829, bein^ 
about a year from the time the challenge was accepted ; thu? 
giving the disputants time to prepare themselves. 

Mr. Owen's preparation, however, could only have beer 
such as those who run may read; for, during the interval 
he traversed great part of North America, crossed the At- 

128 



OF THE AMERICANS 

llantic twice, visited England^ Scotland, Mexico, Texas, and 
Ij I know not how many places besides. 

Mr. Campbell, I was told, passed this period very differ- 
ently, being engaged in reading, with great research and 
; perseverance, all the theological works within his reach. 
[But whatever confidence the learning and piety of Mr. 
i Campbell might have inspired in his friends, or in the 
Cincinnati Christians in general, it was not, as it appeared, 
sufficient to induce Mr. Wilson, the Presbyterian minister 
of the largest church in the town, to permit the display of 
them within its walls. This refusal was greatly repro- 
bated, and much regretted, as the curiosity to hear the dis- 
ijcussion was very general, and no other edifice offered so 
much accommodation. 

A Methodist meeting-house, large enough to contain a 
thousand persons, was at last chosen; a small stage was 
arranged round the pulpit, large enough to accommodate 
the disputants and their stenographers; the pulpit itself 
was, throughout the whole time, occupied by the aged 
father of Mr. Campbell, whose flowing white hair, and 
venerable countenance, constantly expressive of the deepest 
attention, and the most profound interest, made him a very 
striking figure in the group. Another platform was raised in 
a conspicuous part of the building, on which were seated 
seven gentlemen of the city, selected as moderators. 

The chapel was equally divided, one half being appro- 
priated to ladies, the other to gentlemen; and the door of 
entrance reserved for the ladies was carefully guarded by 
persons appointed to prevent any crowding or difficulty 
from impeding their approach. I suspect that the ladies 
were indebted to Mr. Owen for this attention; the arrange- 
jments respecting them on this occasion were by no means 
American. 

When Mr. Owen rose, the building was thronged in every 

129 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

part; the audience^ or congregation^ (I hardly know which 
to call them,,) were of the highest rank of citizens, and as 
large a proportion of best bonnets fluttered there, as the 
*'two-horned church" itself could boast. 

It was in the profoundest silence, and apparently with 
the deepest attention, that Mr. Owen's opening address was 
received; and surely it was the most singular one that ever 
Christian men and women sat to listen to. 

When I recollect its object, and the uncompromising man- ; 
ner in which the orator stated his mature conviction that the 
whole history of the Christian mission was a fraud, and its 
sacred origin a fable, I cannot but wonder that it was so 
listened to; yet at the time I felt no such wonder. Never 
did any one practise the suaviter in modo with more powers- i 
f ul effect than Mr. Owen. The gentle tone of his voice ; his ! 
mild, sometimes playful, but never ironical manner; the 
absence of every vehement or harsh expression; the affec- 
tionate interest expressed for "the whole human family;" the 
air of candour with which he expressed his wish to be con- 
vinced he was wrong, if he indeed were so — ^his kind smile 
— the mild expression of his eyes — in short, his whole man- 
ner, disarmed zeal, and produced a degree of tolerance that 
those who did not hear him would hardly believe possible. 

Half an hour was the time allotted for each haranguer; 
when this was expired, the moderators were seen to look 
at their watches. Mr. Owen, too, looked at his (without i 
pausing), smiled, shook his head, and said in a parenthe- -| 
sis "a moment's patience," and continued for nearly anothei? f\ 

half hour. ' 

i 

Mr. Campbell then arose; his person, voice, and manner 
all greatly in his favour. In his first attack he used the 
arms, which in general have been considered as belonging ;: 
to the other side of the question. He quizzed Mr. Owen ! 
most unmercifully ; pinched him here for his parallelograms ; 

ISO 



O F THE AMERICANS 

hit him there for his human perfectibility, and kept the 
whole audience in a roar of laughter. Mr. Owen joined in 
it most heartily himself, and listened to him throughout 
with the air of a man who is delighted at the good things 
he is hearing, and exactly in the cue to enjoy all the other 
good things that he is sure will follow. Mr. Campbell'a 
watch was the only one which reminded us that we had 
listened to him for half an hour; and having continued 
speaking for a few minutes after he had looked at it, he 
sat down with, I should think, the universal admiration of 
his auditory. 

■ Mr. Owen again addressed us; and his first five minutes 
were occupied in complimenting Mr. Campbell with all the 
strength his exceeding hearty laughter had left him. But 
then he changed his tone, and said the business was too 
serious to permit the next half hour to pass so lightly and 
so pleasantly as the last; and then he read us what he called 
his twelve fundamental laws of human nature. These 
twelve laws he has taken so much trouble to circulate to all 
the nations of the earth, that it must be quite unnecessary 
to repeat them here. To me they appear twelve truisms, that 
no man in his senses would ever think of contradicting; but 
how any one can have conceived that the explanation and 
defence of these laws could furnish forth occupation for his 
pen and his voice, through whole years of unwearying dec- 
lamation, or how he can have dreamed that they could be 
twisted into a refutation of the Christian religion, is a mys- 
itery which I never expect to understand. 
I From this time Mr. Owen entrenched himself behind his 
.twelve laws, and Mr. Campbell, with equal gravity, confined 
himself to bringing forward the most elaborate theological 
authorities in evidence of the truth of revealed religion. 

Neither appeared to me to answer the other ; but to confine 
themselves to the utterance of what they had uppermost in 

131 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

their own minds when the discussion began. I lamented 
this on the side of Mr. Campbell^ as I am persuaded he 
would have been much more powerful had he trusted more to 
himself and less to his books. Mr. Owen is an extraordinary 
man^ and certainly possessed of talent, but he appears to me 
so utterly benighted in the mists of his own theories, that he , 
has quite lost the power of looking through them, so as ij 
to get a peep at the world as it really exists around him. 

At the conclusion of the debate (which lasted for fifteen 
sittings) Mr. Campbell desired the whole assembly to sit 
down. They obeyed. He then requested all who wished 1 
well to Christianity to rise, and a very large majority were 
in an instant on their legs. He again requested them to be 
seated, and then desired those who believed not in its doc- 
trines to rise, and a few gentlemen and one lady obeyed, 
Mr. Owen protested against this manoeuvre, as he called 
it, and refused to believe that it afforded any proof of the 
state of men's minds, or of women's either; declaring, that 
not only was such a result to be expected, in the present 
state of things, but that it was the duty of every man who 
had children to feed, not to hazard the sale of his hogs, or 
his iron, by a declaration of opinions which might offend 
the majority of his customers. It was said, that at the end 
of the fifteen meetings the numerical amount of the Chris- 
tians and the Infidels of Cincinnati remained exactly what it 
Rvas when they began. j^ 

This was a result that might Have been perhaps antici- 
pated; but what was much less to have been expected, 
neither of the disputants ever appeared to lose their temper. 
I was told they were much in each other's company, con- 
stantly dining together, and on all occasions expressed most 
cordially their mutual esteem. 

All this I think could only have happened in America. I 

132 



OF THE AMERICANS 

jam not quite sure that it was very desirable it should have 
happened any where. 

In noting the various brilliant events which diversified 
our residence in the western metropolis^ I have omitted to 
mention the Birth-day Ball^ as it is called, a festivity which, 
I believe, has place on the 22nd of February, in every town 

iand city throughout the Union. It is the anniversary of 
the birth of General Washington, and well deserves to be 
marked by the Americans as a day of jubilee. 

I was really astonished at the coup d' ceil on entering, for 

1 1 saw a large room filled with extremely well-dressed com- 
pany, among whom were many very beautiful girls. The 
gentlemen also were exceedingly smart, but I had not yet 
been long enough in Western America not to feel startled 

[at recognising in almost every full-dressed heau that passed 
me, the master or shopman that I had been used to see be- 
hind the counter, or lolling at the door of every shop in 
the city. The fairest and finest belles smiled and smirked 
on them with as much zeal and satisfaction as I ever saw be- 
stowed on an eldest son, and I therefore could feel no doubt 
of their being considered as of the highest rank. Yet it 
must not be supposed that there is no distinction of classes ; 

j at this same ball I was looking among the many very beauti- 

i ful girls I saw there for one more beautiful still, with whose 
lovely face I had been particularly struck at the school 
examination I have mentioned. I could not find her, and 
asked a gentleman why the beautiful Miss C. was not there. 
"You do not yet understand our aristocracy," he replied, 
**the family of Miss C. are mechanics." 

"But the young lady has been educated at the same school 
as these, whom I see here, and I know her brother has a 
shop in the town, quite as large, and apparently as prosper- 
ous, as those belonging to any of these young men. What is 
the difference ?" 

153 



. DOMESTIC Mik:NNERg 

"He is a mechanic: he assists in making the articles he 
sells ; the others call themselves merchants." 

The dancing was not quite like, yet not very unlike vrhat 
we see at an assize or race ball in a country town. They call 
their dances cotillons instead of quadrilles, and the figures 
are called from the orchestra. in English, which has a very 
ludicrous effect on European ears. 

The arrangements for the supper were very singular, but i 
eminently characteristic of the country. The gentlemen had l 
a splendid entertainment spread for them in another large 
room of the hotel, while the poor ladies had each a plate put [ 
into their hands, as they pensively promenaded the ball- -, 
room during their absence ; and shortly afterwards servants i 
appeared, bearing trays of sweetmeats, cakes, and creams. ' 
The fair creatures then sat down on a row of chairs placed ; 
round the walls, and each making a table of her knees, began i 
eating her sweet, but sad and sulky repast. The effect was 
extremely comic; their gala-dresses and the decorated room 
forming a contrast the most unaccountable with their un- 
comfortable and forlorn condition. 

This arrangement was owing neither to economy nor want 
of a room large enough to accommodate the whole party, but 
purely because the gentlemen liked it better. This was the 
answer given me, when my curiosity tempted me to ask why 
the ladies and gentlemen did not sup together ; and this was 
the answer repeated to me afterwards by a variety of people ■ 
to whom I put the same question. 

I am led to mention this feature of American manners 
very frequently, not only because it constantly recurs, but i 
because I consider it as being in a great degree the cause 
of that universal deficiency in good manners and graceful \ 
demeanour, both in men and women, which is so remarkable. 

Where there is no court, which every where else is the 
glass wherein the higher orders dress themselves, and which 

1S4 



OF THE AMERICANS 

again reflected from them to the classes below, goes far to- 
i wards polishing, in some degree, a great majority of the 
population, it is not to be expected that manner should be 
made so much a study, or should attain an equal degree of 
elegance; but the deficiency, and the total difference, is 
greater than this cause alone could account for. The hours 
of enjoyment are important to human beings every where, 
and we every where find them preparing to make the most 
.of them. Those who enjoy themselves only in society, 
'whether intellectual or convivial, prepare themselves for 
' it, and such make but a poor figure when forced to be content 
with the sweets of solitude; while, on the other hand, those 
I to whom retirement affords the greatest pleasure, seldom 
give or receive much in society. Wlierever the highest en- 
joyment is found by both sexes, in scenes where they meet 
each other, both will prepare themselves to appear with ad- 
vantage there. The men will not indulge in the luxury of 
chewing tobacco, or even of spitting, and the women will 
contrive to be capable of holding a higher post than that 
of unwearied tea-makers. 

In America, with the exception of dancing, which is al- 
most wholly confined to the unmarried of both sexes, all the 
enjoyments of the men are found in the absence of the 
women. They dine, they play cards, they have musical 
meetings, they have suppers, all in large parties, but all 
without women. Were it not that such is the custom, it is 
impossible but that they would have ingenuity enough to 
find some expedient for sparing the wives and daughters 
of the opulent the sordid offices of household drudgery, 
which they almost all perform -in their families. Even in 
the slave-states, though they may not clear-starch and iron, 
mix puddings and cakes one half of the day, and watch 
them baking the other half, still the very highest occupy 
themselves in their household concerns, in a manner that 

135 



DOMESTIC MANNEES 

precludes the possibility of their becoming elegant ai 
enlightened companions. In Baltimore^ Philadelphia, and 
New York, I met with some exceptions to this ; but speaking 
of the country generally, it is unquestionably true. 

Had I not become heartily tired of my prolonged resi- 
dence in a place I cordially disliked, and which, moreover, 
I began to fear would not be attended with the favourable 
results we had anticipated, I should have found an almost 
inexhaustible source of amusement in the notions and opin- 
ions of the people I conversed with; and as it was, I often 
did enjoy this in a considerable degree. 

We received, as I have mentioned, much personal kind- 
ness; but this by no means interfered with the national 
feeling of, I believe, unconquerable dislike, which evidently 
lives at the bottom of every truly American heart against 
the English. This shows itself in a thousand little ways/ 
even in the midst of the most kind and friendly intercourse, 
but often in a manner more comic than offensive. 

Sometimes it was thus. — "Well, now, I think your govern- 
ment must just be fit to hang themselves for that last war 
they cooked up; it has been the ruin of you I expect, for 
it has just been the making of us." 

Then. — "Well, I do begin to understand your broken 
English better than I did; but no wonder I could not make 
it out very well at first, as you come from London; for 
every body knows that London slang is the most dreadful 
in the world. How queer it is now, that all the people that 
live in London should put the h where it is not, and never 
will put it where it is." 

I was egotistical enough to ask the lady who said this, if 
she found that I did so. 

"No; you do not," was the reply; but she added, with a 
complacent smile, "it is easy enough to see the pains you 
take about it : I expect you have heard how we Americans 

136 



II OP THE AMERICANS 

augh at you all for it, and so you are trying to learn our 

vay of pronouncing." 

j One lady asked me very gravely, if we had left home in 

)rder to get rid of the vermin with which the English of all 

•anks were afflicted? "I have heard from unquestionable 

Authority/' she added, " that it is quite impossible to walk 

•hrough the streets of London without having the head 

illed." 

I I laughed a little, but spoke not a word. She coloured 

liighly, and said, " There is nothing so easy as to laugh, but 

jtruth is truth, laughed at or not." 

I must preface the following anecdote by observing, that 
n America nearly the whole of the insect tribe are classed 
nder the general name of bug ; the unfortunate cosmopolite 
[inown by that name amongst us is almost the only one not 
ncluded in this term. A lady abruptly addressed me with, 
' Don't you hate chintzes, Mrs. TroUope?" 

"No, indeed," I replied, "I think them very pretty." 

*' There now ! if that is not being English ! I reckon 
you call that loving your country. Well, thank God ! we 
Americans have something better to love our country for 
than that comes to; we are not obliged to say that we like 
ipasty filthy chintzes to show that we are good patriots." 

" Chintzes ! what are chintzes ?" 

"Possible, do you pretend you don't know what chintzes 
,re ? Why the nasty little stinking blood-suckers that all the 
beds in London are full of." 

I have since been informed that chinche is Spanish for 
bug; but at the time the word suggested only the material 
of a curtain. 

Among other instances of that species of modesty so often 
seen in America, and so unknown to us, I frequently wit- 
nessed one, which, while it evinced the delicacy of the ladies, 
gave opportunity for many lively sallies from the gentlemen. 

137 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

I saw the same sort of tiling repeated on diiFerent occasions 
at least a dozen times; e.g. a young lady is employed in 
making a shirt (which it would be a symptom of absolute 
depravity to name), a gentleman enters, and presently 
begins the sprightly dialogue with " What are you making. 
Miss Clarissa?" 

" Only a frock for my sister's doll, sir." 

" A frock ! not possible. Don't I see that it is not a frock? 
Come, Miss Clarissa, what is it?" 

" 'Tis just an apron for one of our Negroes, Mr. Smith/'.l 

" How can you. Miss Clarissa ! vv^hy is not the two sides ; 
joined together? I expect you were better tell me what 

it IS. 

"My ! why then, Mr. Smith, it is just a pillow-case." 

" Now that passes. Miss Clarissa ! 'Tis a pillow-case f or i 
a giant then. Shall I guess. Miss?" li 

"Quit, Mr. Smith; behave yourself, or I'll certainly be l' 
affronted." 

Before the conversation arrives at this point, both gen- 
tlemen and lady are in convulsions of laughter. I once saw 
a young lady so hard driven by a wit, that to prove she was 
making a bag, and nothing but a bag, she sewed up the 
ends before his eyes, showing it triumphantly, and exclaim- 
ing, " There now ! what can you say to that ?" ji 

One of my friends startled me one day by saying, in an I 
affectionate, but rather compassionate tone, " How will youi 
bear to go back to England to live, and to bring up yourij 
children in a country where you know you are consideredi! 
as no better than the dirt in the streets ?'* 

I begged she would explain. 

" Why, you know I would not affront you for any thing;: 
but the fact is, we Americans know rather more than youij 
think for; and certainly, if I was in England, I should not' 
think of associating with any thing but lords. I have always 

138 



OF THE AMERICANS 

^en among the first here, and if I travelled I should like 
» do the same. I don't mean, I am sure, that I would not 
)me to see you, but you know you are not lords, and there- 
)re I know very well how you are treated in your own 
)untry." 

I I very rarely contradicted statements of this kind, as I 
Dund it less trouble, and infinitely more amusing, to let 
lem pass ; indeed, had I done otherwise, it would have been 
f little avail, as among the many conversations I held in 
Ijnerica respecting my own country, I do not recollect a 
ngle instance in which it was not clear that I knew much 
:ss about it than those I conversed with. 

On the subject of national glory, I presume I got more 
lan my share of buffeting; for being a woman, there was 
objection to their speaking out. One lady, indeed, who 
as a great patriot, evinced much delicacy towards me, for 
pon some one speaking of New Orleans, she interrupted 
lem, saying, " I wish you would not talk of New Orleans ;" 
nd, turning to me, added with great gentleness, " It must 
e so painful to your feelings to hear that place mentioned !" 

The immense superiority of the American to the British 
javy, was a constant theme, and to this I always listened, 
fs nearly as possible, in silence. I repeatedly heard it stated 
so often, indeed, and from such various quarters, that I 
[link there must be some truth in it), that the American 
lailors fire with a certainty of slaughter, whereas our shots 
Ire sent very nearly at random. " This,'* said a naval officer 
|f high reputation, " is the blessed effect of your game laws ; 
^our sailors never fire at a mark ; whilst our free tars, from 
heir practice in pursuit of game, can any of them split a 
iiair." But the favourite, the constant, the universal sneer 
hat met me every where, was on our old-fashioned attach- 
aents to things obsolete. Had they a little wit among them, 
; am certain they would have given us the cognomen of ** My 

139 



DOMESTIC MANNEKS 

Grandmother, the British," for that is the tone they take 
and it is thus they reconcile themselves to the crude newness 
of every thing around them. 

" I wonder you are not sick of kings, chancellors, and 
archbishops, and all your fustian of wigs and gowns," saic 
a very clever gentleman to me once, with an affected yawn 
" I protest the very sound almost sets me to sleep." 

It is amusing to observe how soothing the idea seems 
that they are more modern, more advanced than England. 
Our classic literature, our princely dignities, our noble insti 
tutions, are all gone-by relics of the dark ages. 

This, and the vastness of their naked territory, make up 
the flattering unction which is laid upon the soul, as ai 
antidote to the little misgiving which from time to time 
arises, lest their large country be not of quite so much im- 
portance among the nations, as a certain paltry old-fash i 
ioned little place that they wot of. ■ 

I was once sitting with a party of ladies, among when 
were one or two young girls, whose curiosity was greatei 
than their patriotism, and they asked me many questions | 
respecting the splendour and extent of London, I wag 
endeavouring to satisfy them by the best description I coulc 
give, when we were interrupted by another lady, who ex-| 
claimed, " Do hold your tongues, girls, about London ; if i 
you want to know what a beautiful city is, look at Pliiladel- 
phia; when Mrs. TroUope has been there, I think she will 
allow that it is better worth talking about than that greal: 
overgrown collection of nasty, filthy, dirty streets, that the} 
call London." 

Once in Ohio, and once in the district of Columbia, I had 
an atlas displayed before me, that I might be convinced by 
the evidence of my own eyes what a very contemptible little 
country I came from. I shall never forget the gravity with 
which, on the latter occasion, a gentleman drew out his grad-l 

140 



OF THE AMERICANS 

ated pencil-case^, and showed me^, past contradiction, that 
le whole of the British dominions did not equal in size one 

. if their least important states ; nor the air with which, after 
^e demonstration, he placed his feet upon the chimney- 
iece, considerably higher than his head, and whistled Yan- 
kee Doodle. 

Their glorious institutions, their unequalled freedom. 
vere, of course, not left unsung. 

I took some pains to ascertain what they meant by their 
jlorious institutions, and it is with no affectation of igno- 
llance that I profess I never could comprehend the meaning 

; If the phrase, which is, however, on the lip of every Amer- 
can, Avhen he talks of his country. I asked if by their 
nstitutions they meant their hospitals and penitentiaries. 
' Oh, no ! we mean the glorious institutions which are coeval 
dth the revolution." " Is it," I asked, " your institution of 
narriage, which you have made purely a civil and not a re- 
igious rite, to be performed by a justice of peace, instead of 
I clergyman .f*" 
" Oh no ! we speak of our divine political institutions.** 
Yet still I was in the dark, nor can I guess what they 
nean, unless they call incessant electioneering, without 
Dause or interval for a single day, for a single hour, of their 
jW^hole existence, " a glorious institution." 

\\ Their unequalled freedom, I think, I understand better. 
Their code of common law is built upon ours ; and the differ- 
ence between us is this, in England the laws are acted upon, 
iin America they are not. 

i! I do not speak of the police of the Atlantic cities ; I be- 
lieve it is well arranged: in New York it is celebrated for 
being so; but out of the range of their influence, the con- 
tempt of law is greater than I can venture to state, witli 
^any hope of being believed. Trespass, assault, robbery, nay, 

141 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

even murder, are often committed without the slightest' 
attempt at legal interference. 

During the summer that we passed most delightfully in 
Maryland, our rambles were often restrained in various 
directions by the advice of our kind friends, who knew the 
manners and morals of the country. When we asked the 
cause, we were told, " There is a public-house on that road, 
and it will not be safe to pass it." 

The line of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal passed within 
a few miles of Mrs. S*^*'s residence. It twice happenedi 
during our stay with her, that dead bodies were found par- 
tially concealed near it. The circumstance was related as a 
sort of half-hour's wonder; and when I asked particulars 
of those who, on one occasion, brought the tale, the reply;; 
was, "Oh, he was murdered, I expect; or may-be he died ofij 
the canal fever; but they say he had marks of being throt- ! 
tied." No inquest was summoned; and certainly no more 
sensation was produced by the occurrence than if a sheep 
had been found in the same predicament. 

The abundance of food and the scarcity of hanging were 
also favourite topics, as proving their superiority to Eng- 
land. They are both excellent things, but I do not admit 
the inference. A wide and most fertile territory, as yet 
but thinly inhabited, may easily be made to yield abundant 
food for its population: and where a desperate villain 
knows that when he has made his town or his village " too 
hot to hold him," he has nothing to do but to travel a 
few miles west, and be sure of finding plenty of beef and 
whiskey, with no danger that the law shall follow him, it is 
not extraordinary that executions should be rare. 

Once during our residence at Cincinnati, a murderer of i 
uncommon atrocity was taken, tried, convicted, and con-i 
demned to death. It had been shown on his trial, that some 
years before he had murdered a wife and child at New 

142 



OF THE AMERICANS 

Orleans, but little notice had been taken of it at the time. 
Irhe crime which had now thrown him into the hands of 
iistice was the recent murder of a second wife, and the 
lief evidence against him was his own son. 

The day of his execution was fixed, and the sensation 
jroduced "was so great from the strangeness of the occur- 
ience (no white man having ever been executed at Cincin- 
lati) that persons from sixty miles' distance came to be 

U'esent at it. 

Meanwhile some unco' good people began to start doubts 
Is to the righteousness of hanging a man, and made appli- 
cation to the Governor of the State* of Ohio, to commute 
he sentence into imprisonment. The Governor for some 
ime refused to interfere with the sentence of the tribunal 
)efore which he had been tried; but at length, frightened at 
he unusual situation in which he found himself, he yielded 
b the importunity of the Presbyterian party who had 
lissailed him, and sent off an order to the sheriff accord- 
ingly. But this order was not to reprieve him, but to ask 
lim if he pleased to be reprieved, and sent to the peniten- 
tiary instead of being hanged. 

j The sheriff waited upon the criminal, and made his pro- 
posal, and was answered, "If any thing could make me 
agree to it, it would be the hope of living long enough 
to kill you and my dog of a son: however, I won't agree; 
you shall have the hanging of me." 

li The worthy sheriff, to whom the ghastly office of execu- 
koner is assigned, said all in his power to persuade him 
to sign the offered document, but in vain; he obtained 
nothing but abuse for his efforts. 

The day of execution arrived; the place appointed was 
the side of a hill, the only one cleared of trees near the 

♦ The Governors of States have the same power over life and death 
as is vested, with us, in the Crown. 

143 



DOMESTIC MANNEKS 

town; and many hours before the time fixed^ we saw it 
entirely covered by an immense multitude of men^ women, 
and children. At length the hour arrived, the dismal cart 
was seen slowly mounting the hill, the noisy throng was 
hushed into solemn silence; the wretched criminal mounted 
the scaffold, when again the sheriff asked him to sign his 
acceptance of the commutation proposed; but he spurned 
the paper from him, and cried aloud, " Hang me !" 

Mid-day was the moment appointed for cutting the rope; 
the sheriff stood, his watch in one hand, and a knife in the 
other; the hand was lifted to strike, when the criminal! 
stoutly exclaimed, " I sign ;" and he was conveyed back to 
prison, amidst the shouts, laughter, and ribaldry of the 
mob. 

I am not fond of hanging, but there was something ini 
all this that did not look like the decent dignity of whole- 
some justice. 



144 



^' CHAPTER XV 

Camp-Meeting, 

) \t was in the course of this summer that I found the oppor- 
:unity I had long wished for, of attending a camp-meeting, 
md I gladly accepted the invitation of an English lady and 
gentleman to accompany them in their carriage to the spot 
inhere it is held; this was in a wild district on the confines 
fbf Indiana. 

'I The prospect of passing a night in the back woods of 
Indiana was by no means agreeable, but I screwed my cour- 
age to the proper pitch, and set forth determined to see 
[W^ith my own eyes, and hear with my own ears, what a 
bamp-meeting really was. I had heard it said that being 
at a camp-meeting was like standing at the gate of heaven, 
and seeing it opened before you; I had heard it said, that 
being at a camp-meeting was like finding yourself within 
the gates of hell; in either case there must be something to 
gratify curiosity, and compensate for the fatigues of a long 
rumbling ride and a sleepless night. 

We reached the ground about an hour before midnight, 
and the approach to it was highly picturesque. The spot 
jjchosen was the verge of an unbroken forest, where a space 
iof about twenty acres appeared to have been partially 
ijcleared for the purpose. Tents of different sizes were 
pitched very near together in a circle round the cleared 
space; behind them were ranged an exterior circle of car- 
jriages of every description, and at the back of each were 
[fastened the horses which had drawn them thither. Through 
[this triple circle of defence we distinguished numerous 
fires burning brightly within it; and still more numerous 
lights flickering from the trees that were left in the 
I. 
' 145 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

enclosure. The moon was in meridian splendour above our 
heads. 

We left the carriage to the care of a servant, who waq 
to prepare a bed in it for Mrs. B. and me, and entered the 
inner circle. The first glance reminded me of Vauxhall, 
from the effect of the lights among the trees, and the moving 
crowd below them ; but the second showed a scene totally 
unlike any thing I had ever witnessed. Four high f rames^ i 
constructed in the form of altars, were placed at the four 
corners of the enclosure; on these were supported layers 
of earth and sod, on which burned immense fires of blaz-:; 
ing pine-wood. On one side a rude platform was erected 
to accommodate the preachers, fifteen of whom attended, 
this meeting, and with very short intervals for necessary 
refreshment and private devotion, preached in rotation/ 
day and night, from Tuesday to Saturday. 

When we arrived, the preachers were silent ; but we 
heard issuing from nearly every tent mingled sounds of , 
praying, preaching, singing, and lamentation. The cur- 
tains in front of each tent were dropped, and the faint light 
that gleamed through the white drapery, backed as it was 
by the dark forest, had a beautiful and mysterious effect, 
that set the imagination at work ; and had the sounds which 
vibrated around us been less discordant, harsh, and un-i|| 
natural, I should have enjoyed it; but listening at the cor- ; 
ner of a tent, which poured forth more than its proportion ' 
of clamour, in a few moments chased every feeling derived i 
from imagination, and furnished realities that could neither)! 
be mistaken nor forgotten. 

Great numbers of persons were walking about the 
ground, who appeared like ourselves to be present only as 
spectators ; some of these very unceremoniously contrived to 
raise the drapery of this tent, at one corner, so as to afford i 
us a perfect view of the interior. 

146 



OF TUE iVMERICANS 

The floor was covered with straw, which round the sides 
was heaped in masses, that might serve as seats, but which 
^it that moment were used to support the heads and the 
irms of the close-packed circle of men and women who 
kneeled on the floor. 

Out of about thirty persons thus placed, perhaps half a 
kozen were men. One of these, a handsome-looking youth 
9f eighteen or twenty, kneeled just below the opening 
through which I looked. His arm was encircling the neck 
|of a young girl who knelt beside him, with her hair hanging 
dishevelled upon her shoulders, and her features working 
with the most violent agitation; soon after they both fell 
^forward on the straw, as if unable to endure in any other 
attitude the burning eloquence of a tall grim figure in 
black, who, standing erect in the centre, was uttering with 
incredible vehemence an oration that seemed to hover be- 
tween praying and preaching; his arms hung stiff" and im- 
movable by his side, and he looked like an ill-constructed 
machine, set in action by a movement so violent, as to 
threaten its own destruction, so jerkingly, painfully, yet 
rapidly, did his words tumble out; the kneeling circle 
ceased not to call, in every variety of tone, on the name of 
Jesus; accompanied with sobs, groans, and a sort of low 
howling inexpressibly painful to listen to. But my attention 
was speedily withdrawn from the preacher, and the circle 
liromid him, by a figure which knelt alone at some distance; 
kt was a living image of Scott's Macbriar, as young, as wild, 
and as terrible. His thin arms tossed above his head, had 
forced themselves so far out of the sleeves, that they were 
bare to the elbow ; his large eyes glared frightfully, and he 
[continued to scream without an instant's intermission the 
tword " Glory !" with a violence that seemed to swell every 
vein to bursting. It was too dreadful to look upon long, 
and we turned away shuddering. 

147 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

We made the circuit of the tents^ pausing where atten- 
tion was particularly excited by sounds more vehement 
than ordinary. We contrived to look into many; all were 
strewed with straw, and the distorted figures that we saw 
kneeling, sitting, and lying amongst it, joined to the woeful 
and convulsive cries, gave to each the air of a cell in 
Bedlam. 

One tent was occupied exclusively by Negroes. They 
were all full-dressed, and looked exactly as if they were 
performing a scene on the stage. One woman wore a dress s 
of pink gauze trimmed with silver lace ; another was dressed : 
in pale yellow silk; one or two had splendid turbans; and ' 
all wore a profusion of ornaments. The men were in snow 
white pantaloons, with gay coloured linen jackets. One 
of these, a youth of coal-black comeliness, was preaching i 
with the most violent gesticulations, frequently springing 
high from the ground, and clapping his hands over his 
head. Could our missionary societies have heard the trash 
he uttered, by way of an address to the Deity, they might 
perhaps have doubted whether his conversion had much 
enlightened his mind. 

At midnight a horn sounded through the camp, which, 
we were told, was to call the people from private to public 
worship; and we presently saw them flocking from all sides 
to the front of the preachers' stand. Mrs. B. and I con- 
trived to place ourselves with our backs supported against 
the lower part of this structure, and we were thus enabled 1 
to witness the scene which followed, without personal dan- 
ger. There were about two thousand persons assembled. 

One of the preachers began in a low nasal tone, and, like 
all other Methodist preachers, assured us of the enormous 
depravity of man as he comes from the hands of his Maker, 
and of his perfect sanctification after he had wrestled suf- 
ficiently with the Lord to get hold of him, et cetera. The 

148 



OP THE AMERICANS 

idmiration of the crowd was evinced by almost constant 
iries of "Amen! Amen!" "Jesus! Jesus!" "Glory! 
alory!" and the like. But this comparative tranquillity 
iid not last long: the preacher told them that "this night 
!«ras the time fixed upon for anxious sinners to wrestle with 
:he Lord ;" that he and his brethren " were at hand to help 
:hem/' and that such as needed their help were to come 
forward into " the pen." The phrase forcibly recalled 
Milton's lines — 

* Blind mouths ! that scarce themselves know how to hold 
A sheep-hook^ or have learned aught else, the least 

That to the faithful herdsman's art belongs I 

— But when they list their lean and flashy songs. 

Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw; — 

The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed! 
But swoln with wind, and the rank mist they draw. 

Rot inwardly — and foul contagion spread." 

* The pen " was the space immediately below the preachers* 
stand ; we were therefore placed on the edge of it, and were 
enabled to see and hear all that took place in the very cen- 
itre of this extraordinary exhibition. 

The crowd fell back at the mention of the pen, and for 
some minutes there was a vacant space before us. The 
preachers came down from their stand and placed them- 
Iselves in the midst of it, beginning to sing a hymn, calling 
upon the penitents to come forth. As they sang they kept 
turning themselves round to every part of the crowd, and, 
by degrees, the voices of the whole multitude joined in 
chorus. This was the only moment at which I perceived any 
thing like the solemn and beautiful effect which I had 
heard ascribed to this woodland worship. It is certain that 
the com.bined voices of such a multitude, heard at dead of 
night, from the depths of their eternal forests, the many 

149 



DOMESTIC MAN NEKS 



I 



fair young faces turned upward, and looking paler and 
lovelier as they met the moon-beams, the dark figures of the 
officials in the middle of the circle, the lurid glare thrown 
by the altar-fires on the woods beyond, did altogether pro- 
duce a fine and solemn effect, that I shall not easily forget; 
but ere I had well enjoyed it, the scene changed, and sub- 
limity gave place to horror and disgust. 

The exhortation nearly resembled that which I had heard 
at "the Revival," but the result was very different; for, 
instead of the few hysterical women who had distinguished 
themselves on that occasion, above a hundred persons,? 
nearly all females, came forward, uttering bowlings and 
groans, so terrible that I shall never cease to shudder when 
I recall them. They appeared to drag each other forward,: 
and on the word being given, " let us pray," they all fell 
on their knees ; but this posture was soon changed for others 
that permitted greater scope for the convulsive movements 
of their limbs; and they were soon all lying on the ground 
in an indescribable confusion of heads and legs. They\| 
threw about their limbs with such incessant and violent il 
motion, that I was every instant expecting some serious ac- 
cident to occur. j 

But how am I to describe the sounds that proceeded from I 
this strange mass of human beings .^^ I know no words 
which can convey an idea of it. Hysterical sobbings, con-| 
vulsive groans, shrieks and screams the most appalling, 
burst forth on all sides. I felt sick with horror. As if their 
hoarse and overstrained voices failed to make noise enough, 
they soon began to clap their hands violently. The scene I 
described by Dante was before me: — 

"Quivi sospiri, pianti, ed alti guai 
Risonavan per I'aere- 



-Orribili f avelle 
150 



OF T H E A M E R I C A N S 

Parole di dolor e, accent! d'ira 

Voci alti e iioche, e suon di man con die/* 

! Many of these wretched creatures were beautiful young 
'emales. The preachers moved about among them, at once 
exciting and soothing their agonies. I heard the muttered 
' Sister ! dear sister !" I saw the insidious lips approach 
l;he cheeks of the unhappy girls ; I heard the murmured con- 
fessions of the poor victims, and I watched their tormentors, 
)reathing into their ears consolations that tinged the pale 
>heek with red. Had I been a man, I am sure I should 
[iave been guilty of some rash act of interference; nor do 
f believe that such a scene could have been acted in the 
oresence of Englishmen without instant punishment being 
nflicted ; not to mention the salutary discipline of the tread- 
nill, which, beyond all question, would, in England, have 
IDcen applied to check so turbulent and so vicious a scene. 
i After the first wild burst that followed their prostration, 
the moanings, in many instances, became loudly articulate: 
and I then experienced a strange vibration between tragic 
and comic feeling. 

I A very pretty girl, who was kneeling in the attitude of 
Canova's Magdalene immediately before us, amongst an im- 
mense quanmy of jargon, broke out thus: "Woe! woe to the 
backsliders ! hear it, hear it Jesus ! when I was fifteen my 
Mther died, and I backslided, oh Jesus, I backslided! take 
me home to my mother, Jesus ! take me home to her, for I 
am weary! Oh John Mitchel! John Mitchel!" and after 
sobbing piteously behind her raised hands, she lifted her 
sweet face again, which was as pale as death, and said, 
"Shall I sit on the sunny bank of salvation with my mother? 
my own dear mother? oh Jesus, take me home, take me 

home !'* 

Who could refuse a tear to this earnest wish for death in 

151 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

one so young and. so lovely? But I saw her, ere I left the 
ground, with her hand fast locked, and her head supported 
by a man who looked very much as Don Juan might, when 
sent back to earth as too bad for the regions below. 

One woman near us continued to " call on the Lord," as it 
is termed, in the loudest possible tone, and without, a mo- 
ment's interval, for the two hours that we kept our dreadful 
station. She became frightfuly hoarse, and her face so red 
as to make me expect she would burst a blood-vessel. 
Among the rest of her rant, she said " I will hold fast to 
Jesus, I never will let him go ; if they take me to hell, I will 
still hold him fast, fast, fast!" 

The stunning noise was sometimes varied by the preach- 
ers beginning to sing; but the convulsive movements of thai' 
poor maniacs only became m.ore violent. At length the tj 
atrocious wickedness of this horrible scene increased to a 
degree of grossness, that drove us from our station: we re- 
turned to the carriage at about three o'clock in the morning, 
and passed the remainder of the night in listening to the 
ever increasing tumult at the pen. To sleep was impossible. 
At day-break the horn again sounded, to send them to pri- 
vate devotion ; and in about an hour afterwards I saw the 
whole camp as joyously and eagerly employed in preparing ' 
and devouring their most substantial breakfasts as if the i ; 
night had been passed in dancing; and I marked many a } 
fair but pale face, that I recognized as a demoniac of the ^i 
night, simpering beside a swain, to whom she carefully ad- | 
ministered hot coffee and eggs. The preaching saint and i 
the howling sinner seemed alike to relish this mode of re- 
cruiting their strength. 

After enjoying abundance of strong tea, which proved a i 
delightful restorative after a night so strangely spent, I 
wandered alone into the forest, and I never remember to 
have found perfect quiet more delightful. 

152 



OF THE AMERICANS 

We soon after left the ground; but before our departure 
^e learnt that a very satisfactory collection had been made 
by the preachers^ for Bibles^, Tracts^ and all other religious 
purposes. 



15S 



CHAPTER XVI 

Danger of rural Excursions — Sickness. 

It is by no means easy to enjoy the beauties of American i: 
scenery in the west, even when you are in a neighbourhood (! 
that affords much to admire; at least, in doing so, you run 
considerable risk of injuring your health. Nothing is con- 
sidered more dangerous than exposure to mid-day heat ex- 
cept exposure to evening damp ; and the twilight is so short, i\ 
that if you set out on an expedition when the fervid heat 
subsides, you can hardly get half a mile before " sun i 
down," as they call it, warns you that you must run or drive ; 
home again, as fast as possible, for fear you should get a 
" chill/' 

I believe we braved all this more than any one else in the 
whole country, and if we had not, we should have left Cin- 
cinnati without seeing any thing of the country around it. 
i Though we kept steadily to our resolution of passing no 
more sylvan hours in the forests of Ohio, we often spent 
entire days in Kentucky, tracing the course of a " creek," or 
climbing the highest points within our reach, in the hope of i 
catching a glimpse of some distant object. A beautiful 
reach of the Ohio, or the dark windings of the pretty Lick- 
ing, were indeed always the most remarkable features in 
the landscape. 

There was one spot, however, so beautiful that we visited I 
it again and again ; it was by no means free from mosquitoes ; 
and being on the bank of a stream, with many enormous 
trees lying on the half -cleared ground around, it was just i 
such a place as we had been told a hundred times was par- 
ticularly " dangerous ;" nevertheless, we dared every thing 
for the sake of dining beside our beautiful rippling stream, 

154 



OP THE AMERICANS 

lid watching the bright sunbeams dancing on the grassy 
mk, at such a distance from our retreat that they could 
at heat us. A little below the basin that cooled our wine 
as a cascade of sufficient dimensions to give us all the 
usic of a waterfall, and all the sparkling brightness of 
ear water when it is broken again and again by jutting 

•ags. 

To sit beside this miniature cascade, and read, or dream 
v^ay a day, was one of our greatest pleasures. 

It was indeed a mortifying fact, that whenever we found 
!|it a picturesque nook, where turf, and moss, and deep 
aade, and a crystal stream, and fallen trees, majestic in 
leir ruin, tempted us to sit down, and be very cool and very 
appy, we invariably found that that spot lay under the im- 
utation of malaria. 

A row upon the Ohio was another of our favorite amuse- 
lents ; but in this, I believe, we were also very singular, for 
ften, when enjoying it, we were shouted at, by the young 
iree-borns on the banks, as if we had been so many 
lonsters. 

The only rural amusement in which we ever saw any of 
he natives engaged was eating strawberries and cream in 
i pretty garden about three miles from the town ; here we 
Utually met three or four carriages ; a degree of dissipation 
hat I never witnessed on any other occasion. The straw- 
)erries were tolerable strawberries, but the cream was the 
llest skyblue, and the charge half a dollar to each person ; 
vhich being about the price of half a fat sheep, I thought 

pretty considerable much," if I may be permitted to use 
m expressive phrase of the country. 

j We had repeatedly been told, by those who knew the land, 
;hat the second summer was the great trial to the health of 
Europeans settled in America ; but we had now reached the 
middle of our second August, and with the exception of the 
|l 

155 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

fever one of my sons had suffered from^ the summe 
after our arrival, we had all enjoyed perfect health; but 
was now doomed to feel the truth of the above predictioi] 
for before the end of August I fell low before the monste 
that is for ever stalking through that land of lakes and riv 
ers, breathing fever and death around. It was nine week, 
before I left my room, and when I did, I looked more fit t( 
walk into the Potter's Field (as they call the English bury 
ing-ground) than any where else. 

Long after my general health was pretty well restored, ; 
suffered from the effect of the fever in my limbs, and lay ii 
bed reading, several weeks after I had been pronounce(i 
convalescent. Several American novels were brought meV 
Mr. Flint's Francis Berrian is excellent; a little wild anc 
romantic, but containing scenes of first-rate interest ancil'i 
pathos. Hope Leslie, and Redwood, by Miss Sedgwick, ar 
American lady, have both great merit; and I now first reac 
the whole of Mr. Cooper's novels. By the time these Ameri- 
can studies were completed, I never closed my eyes withoul 
seeing myriads of bloody scalps floating round me; lon^ 
slender figures of Red Indians crept through my dreams 
with noiseless tread; panthers glared; forests blazed; and 
whichever way I fled, a light foot, a keen eye, and a lon^ 
rifle were sure to be on my trail. An additional ounce oi 
calomel hardly sufficed to neutralize the effect of these raw- 
head and bloody -bones adventures. I was advised to plunge 
immediately into a course of fashionable novels. It was a 
great relief to me; but as my head was by no means very 
clear, I sometimes jumbled strangely together the civilized 
rogues and assassins of Mr. Bulwer, and the wild men, 
women, and children slayers of Mr. Cooper ; and, truly, be- 
tween them, I passed my dreams in very bad company. 

Still I could not stand, nor even sit upright. What was 
I to read next.^ A happy thought struck me. I determined 

156 



OF THE AMERICANS 

pon beginning with Waverly, and reading through (not for 
ie first time certainly) the whole series. And what a world 
id I enter upon! The wholesome vigour of every page 
earned to communicate itself to my nerves; I ceased to be 
mguid and fretful, and though still a cripple, I certainly 
Injoyed myself most completely, as long as my treat lasted; 
iut this was a shorter time than any one would believe, who 
as not found how such volumes melt before the constant 
eading of a long idle day. When it was over, however, I 
ad the pleasure of finding that I could walk half a dozen 
ards at a time, and take short airings in an open carriage; 
nd better still, could sleep quietly. 

It was no very agreeable conviction which greeted my re- 
every, that our Cincinnati speculation for my son would 
a no way answer our expectation; and very soon after, he 
Us again seized with the bilious fever of the country, which 
^rminated in that most distressing of all maladies, an ague. 
\ never witnessed its effects before, and therefore made my- 
lelf extremely miserable at what those around me consid^ 
^.red of no consequence. 

\ I believe this frightful complaint is not immediately dan- 
frerous ; but I never can believe that the violent and sudden 
brostration of strength, the dreadfully convulsive move- 
iients which distort the limbs, the livid hue that spreads 
itself over the complexion, can take place without shaking 
Ihe seat of health and life. Repeatedly we thought the 
jnalady cured, and for a few days the poor sufferer be- 
lieved himself restored to health and strength; but again 
md again it returned upon him, and he began to give him- 
self up as the victim of ill health. My own health was still 
l^ery infirm, and it took but little time to decide that we 
iaiust leave Cincinnati. The only impediment to this was, 
the fear that Mr. Trollope, who was to join us in the spring, 
might have set out, and thus arrive at Cincinnati after we 

157 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

had left it. However, as the time he had talked of leavii 
England was later in the season, I decided upon running the 
risk ; but the winter had set in with great severity, and the 
river being frozen, the steam-boats could not run; the frost 
continued unbroken through the whole of February, and we 
were almost weary of waiting for its departure, which was 
to be the signal of ours. 

The breaking up of the ice on the Licking and Ohio 
formed a most striking spectacle. At night the river pre- 
sented a solid surface of ice, but in the morning it showed a 
collection of floating icebergs, of every imaginable size and ' 
form, whirling against each other with frightful violence, 
and with a noise unlike any sound I remember. ^ 

This sight was a very welcome one, as it gave us hopes of)! 
immediate departure, but my courage failed, when I heard; 
that one or two steam-boats, weary of waiting, meant toij 
start on the morrow. The idea of running against these! 
floating islands was really alarming, and I was told by 
many, that my fears were not without foundation, for that 
repeated accidents had happened from this cause; and then 
they talked of the little Miami river, whose mouth we were to 
pass, sending down masses of ice that might stop our 
progress ; in short, we waited patiently and prudently, till 
the learned in such matters told us that we might start with 
safety. 



158 



CHAPTER XVII 

Departure from Cincinnati — Society on hoard the 
Steam-hoat — Arrival at Wheeling — Bel Esprit 

We quitted Cincinnati the beginning of March, 1830, and 
[ believe there was not one of our party who did not ex- 
perience a sensation of pleasure in leaving it. We had seen 
again and again all the queer varieties of its little world; 
[lad amused ourselves with its consequence, its taste, and its 
ton, till they had ceased to be amusing. Not a hill was left 
iinclimbed, nor a forest path unexplored; and, with the ex- 
ception of two or three individuals, who bore heads and 
hearts peculiar to no clime, but which are found scattered 
through the world, as if to keep us every where in good 
humour with it, we left nought to regret at Cincinnati. The 
only regret was, that we had ever entered it; for we had 
wasted health, time, and money there. 

I We got on board the steam-boat which was to convey us to 
Wheeling at three o'clock. She was a noble boat, by far 
the finest we had seen. The cabins were above, and the deck 
passengers, as they are called, were accommodated below. 
In front of the ladies' cabin was an ample balcony, shel- 
Itered by an awning; chairs and sofas were placed there, and 
even at that early season, nearly all the female passengers 
passed the whole day there. The name of this splendid ves- 
sel was the Lady Franklin. By the way, I was often 
amused by the evident fondness which the Americans show 
ifor titles. The wives of their eminent men constantly re- 
ceive that of " Lady." We heard of Lady Washington, 
Lady Jackson, and many other " ladies." The eternal re- 
jcurrence of their militia titles is particularly ludicrous, met 
[with, as they are, among the tavern-keepers, market- 



I 159 



DOMESTIC M2k;NNERS 

gardeners, &c. But I think the most remarkable instance 
which we noticed of this sort of aristocratical longing oc- 
curred at Cincinnati. Mr. T in speaking of a gen- 
tleman of the neighborhood, called him Mr. M . " Gen- 
eral M y sir/' observed his companion. *' I beg his 

pardon/' rejoined Mr. T , ** but I was not aware of 

his being in the army." " No, sir, not in the army," was the 
^^V^y? " but he was surveyor-general of the district." 

The weather was delightful; all trace of winter had dis- 
appeared, and we again found ourselves moving rapidly up 
the stream, and enjoying all the beauty of the Ohio. 

Of the male part of the passengers we saw nothing, ex- 
cepting at the short silent periods allotted for breakfast^ 
dinner, and supper, at which we were permitted to enter 
their cabin, and place ourselves at their table. 

In the Lady Franklin we had decidedly the best of it, for 
we had our beautiful balcony to sit in. In all respects, in- 
deed, our accommodations were very superior to what we 
had found in the boat which brought us from New Orleans 
to Memphis, where we were stowed away in a miserable 
little chamber close aft, under the cabin, and given to under- 
stand by the steward, that it was our duty there to remain 
*' till such time as the bell should ring for meals." 

The separation of the sexes, so often mentioned, is no 
where more rem.arkable than on board the steam-boats. 
Among the passengers on this occasion we had a gentleman 
and his wife, who really appeared to suffer from the ar- 
rangement. She was an invalid, and he was extremely i 
attentive to her, as far, at least, as the regulations per- 
mitted. When the steward opened the door of communica- 
tion between the cabins, to permit our approaching the 
table, her husband was always stationed close to it, to hand 
her to her place ; and when he accompanied her again to the 
door, he always lingered for a moment or two on the for- 

■160 



OF THE AMERICANS " 

(idden threshold^ nor left his station, till the last female had 
passed through. Once or twice he ventured, when all but 
}is wife were on the balcony, to sit down beside her for a 
loment in our cabin, but the instant either of us entered, 
|e started like a guilty thing and vanished. 
i While mentioning the peculiar arrangements which are 
Iiouglit necessary to the delicacy of the American ladies, or 
3 the comfort of the American gentlemen, I am tempted to 
Uude to a story which I saw in the papers respecting the 
|isits which it was stated Captain Basil Hall persisted in 
laking to his wife and child on board a Mississippi steam- 
joat, after being informed that doing so was contrary to 
jiw. Now I happen to know that neither himself or Mrs. 
Tall ever entered the ladies' cabin during the whole voyage, 
js they occupied a stateroom which Captain Hall had 
scured for his party. The veracity of newspaper state- 
lents is, perhaps, nowhere quite unimpeachable, but if I 
m not greatly mistaken, there are more direct falsehoods 
irculated by the American newspapers than by all the 
thers in the world, and the one great and never- failing 
Durce of these voluminous works of imagination is England 
nd the English. 

I How differently would such a voyage as we were now 
aaking be managed on the other side the Atlantic, were such 

mode of travelling possible there. Such long calm river 
Recursions would be perfectly delightful, and parties would 
le perpetually formed to enjoy them. Even were all the 
jarties strangers to each other, the knowledge that they 
ere to eat, drink, and steam away together for a week or 
ortnight, would induce something like a social feeling in 
aj other country. 

It is true that the men became sufficiently acquainted to 
jame together, and we were told that the opportunity was 
onsidered as so favourable, that no boat left New Orleans 

161 



DOMESTIC MANNEES 

without having as cabin passengers one or two gentlemen 
from that city whose profession it was to drill the fifty-two 
elements of a pack of cards to profitable duty. This doubt- 
less is an additional reason for the strict exclusion of the 
ladies from their society. The constant drinking of spirits 
is another, for though they do not scruple to chew tobacco 
and to spit incessantly in the presence of women, they gen-" 
erally prefer drinking and gaming in their absence. 

I often used to amuse myself with fancying the different 
scene which such a vessel would display in Europe. The 
noble length of the gentlemen's cabin would be put into 
requisition for a dance, while that of the ladies', with their 
delicious balcony, would be employed for refreshments, in- 
stead of sitting down in two long silent melancholy rows, 
to swallow as much coffee and beef-steak as could be 
achieved in ten minutes. Then song and music would be 
heard borne along by the midnight breeze ; but on the Ohio, 
when light failed to show us the bluffs, and the trees, with 
their images inverted in the stream, we crept into our little 
cots, listening to the ceaseless churning of the engine, in 
hope it would prove a lullaby till morning. 

We were three days in reaching Wheeling, where we ar- 
rived at last, at two o'clock in the morning, an uncomforta- 
ble hour to disembark with a good deal of luggage, as the 
steam-boat was obliged to go on immediately; but we were 
instantly supplied with a dray, and in a few moments found 
ourselves comfortably seated before a good fire, at an hotel 
near the landing-place; our rooms, with fires in them, were 
immediately ready for us, and refreshments brought, with 
all that sedulous attention which in this country distin- 
guishes a slave state. In making this observation, I am very 
far from intending to advocate the system of slavery ; I con- 
ceive it to be essentially wrong; but so far as my observa- 
tion has extended, I think its influence is far less injurious 

162 



OF THE AMERICANS 

to the manners and morals of the people than the fallacious 
ideas of equality^ which are so fondly cherished by the 
working classes of the white population in America. That 
these ideas are fallacious, is obvious, for in point of fact the 
man possessed of dollars does command the services of the 
man possessed of no dollars; but these services are given 
grudgingly, and of necessity, with no appearance of cheer- 
ful good-will on the one side, or of kindly interest on the 
other. I never failed to mark the difference on entering a 
slave state. I was immediately comfortable, and at my ease, 
and felt that the intercourse between me and those who 
served me was i3rofitable to both parties and painful to 
neither. 

It was not till I had leisure for more minute observation 
that I felt aware of the influence of slavery upon the owners 
of slaves; when I did, I confess I could not but think that 
the citizens of the United States had contrived, by their 
political alchemy, to extract all that was most noxious both 
in democracy and in slavery, and had poured the strange 
mixture through every vein of the moral organization of 
their country. 

Wheeling is in the state of Virginia, and appears to be a 
flourishing town. It is the point at which most travellers 
from the west leave the Ohio, to take the stages which travel 
the mountain road to the Atlantic cities. 

It has many manufactories, among others, one for blow- 
ing and cutting glass, which we visited. We were told by 
the workmen that the articles finished there were equal to 
any in the world; but my eyes refused their assent. The 
cutting was very good, though by no means equal to what we 
see in daily use in London ; but the chief inferiority is in the 
material, which is never altogether free from colour. I had 
observed this also in the glass of the Pittsburgh manufac- 
tory, the labour bestowed on it always appearing greater 

163 



DOMESTIC MANNERS I 

than the glass deserved. They told us also^ that they were 
rapidly improving in the art_, and I have no doubt that this 
was true. ^ 

Wheeling has little of beauty to distinguish it^ except the 
ever lovely Ohio_, to which we here bade adieu^ and a fine 
bold hill^ which rises immediately behind the town. This 
hill, as well as every other in the neighbourhood, is bored 
for coal. Their mines are all horizontal. The coal burns 
well, but with a very black and dirty cinder. 

We found the coach, by which we meant to proceed to 
Little Washington, full, and learnt that we must wait two 
days before it would again leave the town. Posting was 
never heard of in the country, and the mail travelled all 
night, which I did not approve of; we therefore found our- 
selves compelled to pass two days at the Wheeling hotel. 

I know not how this weary interval v/ould have worn 
away, had it not been for the fortunate circumstances of our 
meeting with a bel esprit among the boarders there. We 
descended to the common sitting room (for private parlours 
there are none) before breakfast the morning after our ar- 
rival; several ordinary individuals entered, till the party 
amounted to eight or nine. Again the door opened, and in | 
swam a female, who had once certainly been handsome, and { 
who, it was equally evident, still thought herself so. She 
was tall, and well formed, dressed in black, with many 
gaudy trinkets about her : a scarlet f,cliu relieved the sombre 
colour of her dress, and a very smart little cap at the back 
of her head set ofF an immense quantity of sable hair, which 
naturally, or artificially, adorned her forehead. A becoming 
quantity of rouge gave the finishing touch to her figure, 
which had a degree of pretension about it that immediately 
attracted our notice. She talked fluently, and without any 
American restraint, and I began to be greatly puzzled as to 
who or what she could be; a lady, in the English sense of 

164 



OF THE AMERICANS 

the worlds I was sure slie was not, and she was as little like 
an American female of what they call good standing. A 
ieautifiil girl of seventeen entered soon after, and called her 
I'Ma," and both mother and daughter chattered away, about 
themselves and their concerns, in a manner that greatly in- 
jreased my puzzle. 

After breakfast, being much in want of amusement, I 
seated myself by her, and entered into conversation. I 
found her nothing loath, and in about a minute and a half 
she put a card into my hand, setting forth that she taught 
ihe art of painting upon velvet in all its branches. 

She stated to me, with great volubility, that no one but 
[lerself and her daughter knew any thing of this invaluable 
branch of art; but that for twenty-iive dollars they were 
ivilling to communicate all they knew. 

In five minutes more she informed me that she was the 
author of some of the most cutting satires in the language; 
and then she presented me a paper, containing a prospectus, 
as she called it, of a novel, upon an entirely new construc- 
tion. I was strangel}^ tempted to ask her if it went by 
steam, but she left me no time to ask any thing, for, contin- 
uing the auto-biography she had so obligingly begun, she 
said, "I used to write against all the Adams faction. I will 
go up stairs in a moment and fetch you down my sat-heres 
against that side. But oh! my dear madam! it is really 
frightful to think how talent is neglected in this country. 
Ah! I know what you are going to say, my dear madam, 
you will tell me that it is not so in yours. I know it! but 
alas ! the Atlantic ! However, I really must tell you how I 
have been treated: not only did I publish the most biting 
sat-heres against the Adams faction, but I wrote songs and 
odes in honour of Jackson; and my daughter, Cordelia, sang 
a splendid song of my writing, before eight hundred people, 

i 165 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

entirely and altogether written in his praise; and would you 
believe it^ my dear madam_, he has never taken the slightest 
notice of me, or made me the least remuneration. But you 
can't suppose I mean to bear it quietly ? No ! I promise him 
that is not my way. The novel I have just mentioned to you 
was begun as a sentimental romance (that, perhaps, after 
all, is my real forte), but after the provocation I received 
at Washington, I turned it into a sat-hereical novel, and I 
now call it Yankee Doodle Court. By the way, my dear 
madam, I think if I could make up my mind to cross that 
terrible Atlantic, I should be pretty well received, after 
writing Yankee Doodle Court!" 

I took the opportunity of a slight pause to ask her to 
what party she now belonged, since she had forsworn both 
Adams and Jackson. 

" Oh Clay ! Clay for ever ! he is a real true-hearted repub- 
lican; the others are neither more nor less than tyrants." 

When next I entered the sitting-room she again addressed 
me, to deplore the degenerate taste of the age. 

" Would you believe it ? I have at this moment a comedy 
ready for representation ; I call it * The Mad Philosopher.* 
It is really admirable, and its success certain, if I could get I 
it jjlayed. I assure you the neglect I meet with amounts per- 
fectly, to persecution. But I have found out how to pay. 
them, and to make my own fortune. Sat-here (as she con- 
stantly pronounced satire), sat-here is the only weapon that 
can revenge neglect, and I flatter myself I know how to use 
it. ' Do me the favour to look at this." 

She then presented me with a tiny pamphlet, whose price, 
she informed me, was twenty-five cents, which I readily paid 
to become the possessor of this chef d'ceuvre. The compo- 
sition was pretty nearly such as I anticipated, excepting that 
the English language was done to death by her pen still 

1C6 



OF THE AMERICANS 

imore than by her tongue. The epigraph, which Vas sub- 
scribed " original/' was as follows: 

" Your popularity's on the decline : 

You had your triumph! now I'll have mine." 

These are rather a favourable specimen of the verses that 
follow. 

i In a subsequent conversation she made me acquainted 
with another talent, informing me that she had played the 
part of Charlotte, in Love a la mode, when General Lafay- 
ette honored the theatre at Cincinnati with his presence. 
; She now appeared to have run out the catalogue of her ac- 
complishments ; and I came to the conclusion that my new 
acquaintance was a strolling player ; but she seemed to guess 
my thoughts, for she presently added, **It was a Thespian 
corps that played before the General." 



167 



CHAPTER XVIII 

Departure for the Mountains in the Stage — Scenery] 
of the Alleghany — Haggerstown 

The weather was bleak and disagreeable during the two! 
days we were obliged to remain at Wheeling. I had got | 
heartily tired of my gifted friend; we had walked up every 
side of the rugged hill;, and I set oif on my journey towards 
the mountains with more pleasure than is generally felt in 
quitting a pillow before day-light^, for a cold corner in a 
rumbling stage-coach. 1 

This was the first time we had got into an American stage- 
though we had traversed above two thousand miles of the 
country, and we had all the satisfaction in it, which could 
be derived from the conviction that we were travelling in f 
foreign land. This vehicle had no step, and we climbed intc | 
it by a ladder; when that was removed I remembered, witli I 
some dismay, that the females at least were much in the I 
predicament of sailors, who, " in danger have no door tc | 
creep out;" but when a misfortune is absolutely inevitable 
we are apt to bear it remarkably well; who would utter thai 
constant petition of ladies on rough roads, " let me get out/ 
when compliance would oblige the pleader to make a stej) oi 
five feet before she could touch the ground .f* 

The coach had three rows of seats, each calculated to hold| 
three persons, and as we were only six, we had, in the 
phrase of Milton, to *' inhabit lax " this exalted abode, and 
accordingly, we were for some miles tossed about like a £evi 
potatoes in a wheel-barrow. Our knees, elbows, and headj 
required too much care for their protection to allow us leis- 
ure to look out of the windows; but at length the road be 

168 



OF THE AMERICANS 

came smoother^ and we became more skilful in the art of 
balancing ourselves^ so as to meet the concussion with less 
danger of dislocation. 

We then found that we were travelling through a very 
beautiful country^ essentially different in its features from 
what we had been accustomed to round Cincinnati : it is true 
we had left "" la belle riviere " behind us^ but the many 
limpid and rapid little streams that danced through the land- 
scape to j oin it;, more than atoned for its loss. 

The country already wore an air of more careful hus- 
bandry^ and the very circumstance of a wide and costly 
road (though not a very smooth one), which in theory might 
be supposed to injure picturesque effect;, was beautiful to us, 
who, since we had entered the muddy mouth of the Missis- 
sippi, had never seen any thing except a steam-boat and the 
levee, professing to have so noble an obj ect as public accom- 
modation. Through the whole of the vast region we had 
passed, excepting at New Orleans itself, every trace of the 
art of man appeared to be confined to the individual effort 
of " getting along,*' which, in western phrase, means con- 
triving to live with as small a portion of the incumbrances of 
civilized society as possible. 

This road was made at the expense of the government as 
far as Cumberland, a town situated among the Alleghany 

I mountains, and, from the nature of the ground, must have 
been a work of great cost. I regretted not having counted 
the number of bridges between Wheeling and Little Wash- 
ington, a distance of thirty- four miles ; over one stream only 
there are twenty-five, all passed by the road. They fre- 

; quently occurred within a hundred yards of each other, so 
serpentine is its course; they are built of stone, and some- 

I times very neatly finished. 

Little Washington is in Pennsylvania, across a corner of 
which the road runs. This is a free state, but we were still 

169 



DOMESTIC MANNERS | 

waited upon by Negroes^ hired from the neighbouring state || 
of Virginia. We arrived at nighty and set off again at four j 
in the morning; all^ therefore^ that we saw of Little Wash- 
ington was its hotel, which was clean and comfortable. The 
first part of the next day's journey was through a country 
much less interesting; its character was unvaried for nearly 
thirty miles, consisting of an uninterrupted succession of 
forest covered hills. As soon as we had wearily dragged to 
the top of one of these, we began to rumble down the other 
side as rapidly as our four horses could trot ; and no sooner 
arrived at the bottom than we began to crawl up again; the 
trees constantly so thick and so high as to preclude the 
possibility of seeing fifty yards in any direction. 

The latter part of the day, however, amply repaid us. 
At four o'clock we began to ascend the Alleghany moun- 
tains: the first ridge on the western side is called Laurel 
Hill, and takes its name from the profuse quantity of ever-* 
greens with which it is covered; not any among them, how- 
ever, being the shrub to which we give the name of laurel. 

The whole of this mountain region, through ninety 
miles of which the road passes, is a garden. The al- 
most incredible variety of plants, and the lavish profusion 
of their growth, produce an effect perfectly enchanting. I 
really can hardly conceive a higher enjoyment than a 
botanical tour among the Alleghany mountains, to any one 
who had science enough to profit by it. 

The magnificent rhododendron first caught our eyes; it 
fringes every cliff, nestles beneath every rock, and blooms 
around every tree. The azalea, the shumac, and every 
variety of that beautiful mischief, the kalmia, are in equal 
profusion. Cedars of every size and form were above, 
around, and underneath us: firs more beautiful and more 
various than I had ever seen, were in equal abundance, but 
I know not whether they were really such as I had never 

170 



OF THE AMERICANS 

seen in Europe^ or only in infinitely greater splendour and 
perfection of growth; the species called the hemlock iS;, I 
think, second to the cedar only, in magnificence. Oak and 
beech, with innumerable roses and wild vines, hanging in 
beautiful confusion among their branches, were in many 
places scattered among the evergreens. The earth was car- 
peted with various mosses and creeping plants, and though 
still in the month of March, not a trace of the nakedness of 
winter could be seen. Such was the scenery that showed us 
we were indeed among the far-famed Alleghany mountains. 

As our noble terrace-road, the Semplon of America, rose 
higher and higher, all that is noblest in nature was joined 
to all that is sweetest. The blue tops of the higher ridges 
formed the outline; huge masses of rock rose above us on 
the left, half hid at intervals by the bright green shrubs, 
while to the right we looked down upon the tops of the pines 
and cedars which clothed the bottom. 

I had no idea of the endless variety of mountain scenery. 
My notions had been of rocks and precipices, of torrents 
and of forest trees, but I little expected that the first spot 
which should recall the garden scenery of our beautiful 
England would be found among the mountains: yet so it 
was. From the time I entered America I had never seen the 
slightest approach to what we call pleasure-grounds; a few 
very worthless and scentless flowers were all the specimens 
of gardening I had seen in Ohio ; no attempt at garden scen- 
ery was ever dreamed of, and it was with the sort of delight 
with which one meets an old friend, that we looked on the 
lovely mixture of trees, shrubs, and flowers, that now con- 
tinually met our eyes. Often, on descending into the nar- 
row valleys, we found a little spot of cultivation, a garden 
or a field, hedged round with shumacs, rhododendrons, and 
azaleas, and a cottage covered with roses. These valleys are 
spots of great beauty; a clear stream is always found 

171 



a! 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 



running through them^ which is generally converted to the 
use of the miller at some point not far from the road; and 
here, as on the heights_, great beauty of colouring is given to 
the landscape, by the bright hue of the vegetation, and the 
sober grey of the rocks. 

The first night we passed among the mountains recalled 
us painfully from the enjoyment of nature to all the petty 
miseries of personal discomfort. Arrived at our inn, a for- 
lorn parlour, filled with the blended fumes of tobacco and 
whiskey, received us; and chilled as we began to feel our- 
selves with the mountain air, we preferred going to our 
cold bed-rooms rather than sup in such an atmosphere. We 
found linen on the beds which they assured us had only 
been used a few nights; every kind of refreshment we asked 
for we were answered, " We do not happen to have that 
article.'* 

We were still in Pennsylvania, and no longer waited upon 
by slaves ; it was, therefore, with great difficulty that we pro- 
cured a fire in our bed-rooms from the surly-looking young 
lady who condescended to officiate as chamber-maid, and 
with much more, that we extorted clean linen for our beds; 
that done, we patiently crept into them supperless, while 
she made her exit muttering about the difficulty of " fixing 
English folks." 

The next morning cheered our spirits again; we now en- 
joyed a new kind of alpine witchery; the clouds were float- 
ing around, and below us, and the distant peaks were indis- 
tinctly visible as through a white gauze veil, which was 
gradually lifted up, till the sun arose, and again let in upon 
us the full glory of these interminable heights. 

We were told before we began the ascent, that we should 
find snow four inches deep on the road; but as yet we had 
seen none, and indeed it was with difficulty we persuaded 
ourselves that we were not travelling in the midst of sum- 

172 



" OF THE AMERICANS 

jcner. As we proceeded, however, we found the northern de- 
iclivities still covered with it, and at length, towards the 
summit, the road itself had the promised four inches. The 
?xtrcme mildness of the air, and the brilliant hue of the 
\crgreens, contrasted strangely with this appearance of 
winter; it was difficult to understand how the snow could 
help melting in such an atmosphere. 

Again and again we enjoyed all the exhilarating sensa- 
tions that such scenes must necessarily insjaire, but in at- 
tempting a continued description of our progress over these 
beautiful mountains, I could only tell again of rocks, cedars, 
laurels, and running streams, of blue heights, and green val- 
^eys, yet the continually varying combinations of these ob- 
jects afforded us unceasing pleasure. From one point, pre- 
eminently above any neighbouring ridge, we looked back 
upon the enormous valley of the West. It is a stupendous 
view; but having gazed upon it for some moments, we 
turned to pursue our course, and the certainty that we 
should see it no more, raised no sigh of regret. 

We dined, on the second day, at a beautiful spot, which 
we were told was the highest point on the road, being 2,846 
feet above the level of the sea. We were regaled luxurious- 
ly on wild turkey and mountain venison; which latter is in- 
finitely superior to any furnished by the forests of the Mis- 
sissi23pi, or the Ohio. The vegetables also were extremely 
fine, and we were told by a pretty girl, who superintended 
the slaves that waited on us (for we were again in Vir- 
ginia), that the vegetables of the Allegheny were reckoned 
the finest in America. She told us also, that wild strawber- 
ries were profusely abundant, and very fine ; that their cows 
found for themselves, during the summer, plenty of flowery 
food, which produced a copious supply of milk; that their 
spring gave them the purest water, of icy coldness in the 
warmest seasons; and that the climate was the most 

173 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

I 
delicious in the worlds for though the thermometer sometimes | 

stood at ninety^ their cool breeze never failed them. What i 
a spot to turn hermit in for a summer ! My eloquent moun- ■ 
taineer gave me some specimens of ground plants^ far un- 
like any thing I had ever seen. One particularly^ which 
she called the ground pine^ is peculiar^ as she told me_, to the 
Allegliany, and in some places runs over whole acres of i 
ground ; it is extremely beautiful. The rooms were very 
prettily decorated with this elegant plant^ hung round it iit,, 
festoons. 1|| 

In many places the clearing has been considerable; the | 
road passes through several fine farms^ situated in the shel- 
tered hollows; we were told that the wolves continue to 
annoy them severely, but that panthers, the terror of the, 
West, are never seen, and bears very rarely. Of snakes,! 
they confessed they had abundance, but very few that werej 
considered dangerous. { 

In the afternoon we came in sight of the Monongahela 
river ; and its banks gave us for several miles a beautiful 
succession of wild and domestic scenery. In some points, 
the black rock rises perpendicularly from its margin, like 
those at Chepstow ; at others, a mill, with its owner's cottage, 
its corn-plat, and its poultry, present a delightful image of i 
industry and comfort. i 

Brownsville is a busy-looking little town built upon the 
banks of this river ; it would be pretty, were it not stained 
by the hue of coal. I do not remember in England to' 
have seen any spot, however near a coal mine, so dyed ini[ 
black as Wheeling and Brownsville. At this place we ' 
crossed the Monongahela, in a flat ferry-boat, which very 
commodiously received our huge coach and four horses. 

On leaving the black little town, we were again cheered 
by abundance of evergreens, reflected in the stream, with 
fantastic piles of rock, half visible through the pines and, 

174 ' 



OF THE AMERICANS 

cedars above^ giving often the idea of a vast Gothic castle. 
It was a folly, I confess, but I often lamented they were not 
such; the travelling for thousands of miles, without meeting 
any nobler trace of the ages that are passed, than a mass 
of rotten leaves, or a fragment of fallen rock, produces a 
heavy, earthly, matter-of-fact effect upon the imagination, 
which can hardly be described, and for which the greatest 
beauty of scenery can furnish only an occasional and tran- 
sitory remedy. 

Our second night in the mountains was passed at a soli- 
'tary house of rather forlorn appearance ; but we fared much 
better than the night before, for they gave us clean sheets, 
a good fire, and no scolding. We again started at four 
o'clock in the morning, and eagerly watched for the first 
gleam of light that should show the same lovely spectacle 
we had seen the day before; nor were we disappointed, 
though the show was somewhat different. The vapours 
caught the morning ray, as it first darted over the mountain 
top, and passing it to the scene below, we seemed enveloped 
in a rainbow. 

We had now but one ridge left to pass over, and as we 
reached the top, and looked down on the new world before 
us, I hardly knew whether most to rejoice that 

"All the toil of the long-pass'd way" 

was over, or to regret that our mountain journey was draw-* 
ing to a close. 

The novelty of my enjoyment had doubtless added much 
to its keenness. I have never been familiar with mountain 
scenery. Wales has shown me all I ever saw, and the re- 
gion of the Alleghany Alps in no way resembles it. It is 
a world of mountains rising around you in every direction, 
and in every form; savage, vast, and wild; yet almost at 
^[Cvery step, some lovely spot meets your eye, green, bright, 

175 



DOMESTIC MANNEKS 

and blooming, as the most cherished nook belonging to some 
noble Flora in our own beautiful land. It is a ride of 
ninety miles through kalmias, rhododendrons, azaleas, vines, 
and roses; sheltered from every blast that blows by vast 
masses of various coloured rocks^ on which 

"Tall pines and cedars wave their dark green crests:" 

while in every direction you have a back-ground of blue 
mountain tops, that play at bo peep with you in the clouds. 

After descending the last ridge we reached Haggers- 
town, a small neat place, between a town and a village; and 
here by the piety of the Presbyterian coach-masters, we 
were doomed to pass an entire day, and two nights, "as the 
accommodation line must not run on the sabbath." 

I must, however, mention, that this day of enforced rest 
was not Sunday. Saturday evening we had taken in at 
Cumberland a portly passenger, whom we soon discovered 
to be one of the proprietors of the coach. He asked us, 
with great politeness, if we should wish to travel on the 
sabbath, or to delay our journey. We answered that we 
would rather proceed; "The coach, then, shall go on to- 
morrow," replied the liberal coach-master, with the greatest 
courtesy; and accordingly we travelled all Sunday, and 
arrived at Haggerstown on Sunday night. At the door of 
the inn our civil proprietor left us ; but when we inquired 
of the waiter at what hour we were to start on the morrow, 
he told us that we should be obliged to pass the whole of 
Monday there, as the coach which was to convey us forward 
would not arrive from the east till Tuesday morning. 

Thus we discovered that the waiving the sabbath-keeping 
by the proprietor, was for his own convenience, and not for 
ours, and that we were to be tied by the leg for four-and- 
twenty hours notwithstanding. This was quite a Yankee 
trick. 

176 



OF THE AMERICANS 

Luckily for us, the inn at Haggerstown was one of the 
most comfortable I ever entered. It was there that we be- 
came fully aware that we had left Western America behind 
us. Instead of being scolded, as we literally were at Cin- 
cinnati, for asking for a private sitting-room, we here had 
two without asking at all. A waiter, quite comme il faut, 
summoned us to breakfast, dinner, and tea, which we found 
prepared with abundance, and even elegance. The master 
of the house met us at the door of the eating-room, and. 
after asking if we wished for any thing not on the table, 
retired. The charges were in no respect higher than at 
Cincinnati. 

A considerable creek, called Conococheque Creek, rung 
near the town, and the valley through which it passes is said 
to be the most fertile in America. 

On leaving Haggerstown we found, to our mortification, 
that we were not to be the sole occupants of the bulky ac- 
commodation, two ladies and two gentlemen appearing at 
the door ready to share it with us. We again started, at 
four o'clock, by the light of a bright moon, and rumbled 
and nodded through roads considerably worse than those 
over the mountains. 

As the light began to dawn we discovered our ladies to 
be an old woman and her pretty daughter. 

Soon after day-light we found that our pace became much 
slower than usual, and that from time to time our driver 
addressed to his companion on the box many and vehement 
exclamations. The gentlemen put their heads out, to ask 
what was the matter, but could get no intelligence, till the 
mail overtook us, when both vehicles stopped, and an ani- 
mated colloquy of imprecations took place between the 
coachmen. At length we learnt that one of our wheels was 
broken in such a manner as to render it impossible for us 
to proceed. Upon this the old lady immediately became a 

177 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

principal actor in the scene. She sprang to the window, 
and addressing the set of gentlemen who completely filled 
the mail, exclaimed, "Gentlemen ! can't you make room for 
two? Only me and my daughter?" The naive simplicity 
of this request set both the coaches into an uproar of 
laughter. It was impossible to doubt that she acted upon 
the same principle as the pious Catholic, who addressing 
heaven with a prayer for himself alone, added ''pour ne pas 
fatiguer ta misericorde." Our laugh, however, never 
daunted the old woman, or caused her for a moment to cease 
the reiteration of her request, "only for two of us, gentle- 
men ! can't you find room for two ?" 'm 

Our situation was really very embarrassing, but not to 
laugh was impossible. After it was ascertained that our 
own vehicle could not convey us, and that the mail had not 
even room for two, we decided upon walking to the next 
village, a distance, fortunately, of only two miles, and 
awaiting there the repair of the wheel. We immediately set 
off, at the brisk pace that six o'clock and a frosty morning 
in March were likely to inspire, leaving our old lady and 
her pretty daughter considerably in the rear; our hearts 
having been rather hardened by the exclusive nature of her 
prayer for aid. 

When we had again started upon our new wheel, the 
driver, to recover the time he had lost, drove rapidly over a 
very rough road, in consequence of which, our self-seeking 
old lady fell into a perfect agony of terror, and her cries 
of "we shall be over ! oh. Lord ! we shall be over ! we must 
be over ! we shall be over !" lasted to the end of the stagCj 
which with laughing, walking, and shaking, was a most 
fatiguing one. 



178 



CHAPTER XIX 

Baltimore — Catholic Cathedral — St. Mary's College 
— Sermons — Infant School. 

As we advanced towards Baltimore the look of cultivation 
increased^ the fences wore an air of greater neatness^ the 
houses began to look like the abodes of competence and 
comfort;, and we were consoled for the loss of the beautiful 
mountains by knowing that we were approaching the At- 
lantic. 

From the time of quitting the Ohio river, though, un- 
questionably, it merits its title of "the beautiful/' especially 
when compared with the dreary Mississippi, I strongly felt 
the truth of an observation I remembered to have heard in 
England, that little rivers were more beautiful than great 
ones. As features in a landscape, this is assuredly the case. 
Where the stream is so wide that the objects on the opposite 
shore are indistinct, all the beauty must be derived from the 
water itself; whereas, when the stream is narrow, it becomes 
only a part of the composition. The Monongahela, which 
is in size between the Wye and the Thames, is infinitely 
more picturesque than the Ohio. 

• To enjoy the beauty of the vast rivers of this vast coun- 
try you must be upon the water; and then the power of 
changing the scenery by now approaching one ^hore, and 
now the other, is very pleasing; but travelling as we now 
did, by land, the wild, rocky, narrow, rapid little rivers we 
encountered, were a thousand times more beautiful. The 
Patapsco, near which the road runs, as you approach Balti- 
jmore, is at many points very picturesque. The large blocks 
|of grey rock, now close upon its edge, and now retiring to 

179 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

give room for a few acres of bright green herbage, give 
'great interest and variety to its course. 

Baltimore is, I think, one of the handsomest cities to ap- 
proach in the Union. The noble column erected to the 
memory of Washington, and the Catholic Cathedral, with 
its beautiful dome, being built on a commanding eminence, 
are seen at a great distance. As you draw nearer, many 
other domes and towers become visible, and as you enter 
Baltimore-street, you feel that you are arrived in a. hand- 
some and populous city. 

We took up our quarters at an excellent hotel, where the 
coach stopped, and the next day were fortunate enough to 
find accommodation in the house of a lady, well known to 
many of my European friends. With her and her amiable 
daughter we spent a fortnight very agreeably, and felt quite 
aware that if we had not arrived in London or Paris, we 
had, at least, left far behind the "half-horse, half-alligator" 
tribes of the West, as the Kentuckians call themselves. 

Baltimore is in many respects a beautiful city; it has 
several handsome buildings, and even the private dwelling- 
houses have a look of magnificence, from the abundance of 
white marble with which many of them are adorned. The 
ample flights of steps, and the lofty door frames, are in 
most of the best houses formed of this beautiful material. 

This has been called the city of monuments, from itg 
having the stately column erected to the memory of General 
Washington, and which bears a colossal statue of him at 
the top; and another pillar of less dimensions, recording 
some victory; I forget which. Both these are of brilliant 
white marble. There are also several pretty marble foun- 
tains in different parts of the city, which greatly add to its 
beauty. These are not, it is true, quite so splendid as that 
of the Innocents, or many others at Paris, but they are 
fountains of clear water, and they are built of white marble. 

180 



OF THE AMERICANS 

There is one which is sheltered from the sun by a roof sup- 
ported by light columns ; it looks like a temple dedicated to 
the genius of the spring. The water flows into a marble 
cistern^ to which you descend by a flight of steps of delicate 
whiteness^ and return by another. These steps are never 
without groups of negro girls, some carrying the water on 
their heads, with that graceful steadiness of step, which 
requires no aid from the hand; some tripping gaily with 
their yet unfilled pitchers ; many of them singing in the soft 
rich voice, peculiar to their race; and all dressed with that 
strict attention to taste and smartness which seems the dis- 
tinguishing characteristic of the Baltimore females of all 
ranks. 

The Catholic Cathedral is considered by all Americans as 
a magnificent church, but it can hardly be so classed by any 
one who has seen the churches of Europe ; its interior, how- 
ever, has an air of neatness that amounts to elegance. The 
form is a Greek cross, having a dome in the centre; but 
I the proportions are ill preserved; the dome is too low, and 
the arches which support it are flattened, and too wide for 
their height. On each side of the high altar are chapels to 
the Saviour and the Virgin. The altars in these, as well as 
the high altar, are of native marble of difl'erent colours, and 
I some of the specimens are very beautiful. The decorations 
[iof the altar are elegant and costly. The prelate is a car- 
I dinal, and bears,' moreover, the title of "Archbishop of 
Baltimore."" 

There are' several paintings in difl'erent parts of the 
church, which we heard were considered as very fine. There 
are two presented by Louis XVIII.; one of these is the 
Descent from the Cross, by Paulin Guirin ; the other a copy 
from Rubens, (as they told us,) of a legend of St. Louis in 
the Holy Land; but the composition of the picture is so 
abominably bad, that I conceive the legend of its being 

181 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

after Rubens must be as fabulous as its subject. The ad- 
miration in which these pictures are held is an incontestable 
indication of the state of art in the country. 

We attended mass in this church the Sunday after our 
arrival, and I was perfectly astonished at the beauty and 
splendid appearance of the ladies who filled it. Excepting 
on a very brilliant SundajT- at the Tuileries, I never saw so 
showy a display of morning costume_, and I think I never 
saw any where so many beautiful women at once glance. 
They all appeared to be in full dress, and were really all 
beautiful. 

The sermon (I am very attentive to sermons) was a most 
extraordinary one. The priest began by telling us, that he 
was about to preach upon a vice that he would not "mention 
or name" from the beginning of his sermon to the end. 

Having thus excited the curiosity of his hearers by pro- 
posing a riddle to them, he began. 

Adam, he said, was most assuredly the first who had com- 
mitted this sin, and Cain the next; then, following the ad- 
vice given by the listener, in the Plaideurs, "Passons au 
deluge, je vous prie;" he went on to mention the particular 
propriety of Noah's family on this point; and then contin- 
ued, "Now observe, what did God show the greatest dislike 
to? What was it that Jesus was never even accused of? 
What was it Joseph hated the most ? ^^Hio was the disciple 
that Jesus chose for his friend?" and thus he went on for 
nearly an hour, in a strain that was often perfectly unin- 
telligible to me, but which, as far as I could comprehend it 
appeared to be a sort of expose and commentary upon pri- 
vate anecdotes which he had found, or fancied he had 
found, in the Bible. I never saw the attention of a congre- 
gation more strongly excited, and I really wished, in Chris- 
tian charity, that something better had rewarded it. 

There are a vast number of churches and chapels in the 

182 



OF THE AMERICANS 

city, in proportion to its extent, and several that are large 
and well built; the Unitarian church is the handsomest I 
have ever seen dedicated to that mode of worship. But the 
prettiest among them is a little bijou of a thing belonging 
to the Catholic college. The institution is dedicated to St. 
jNIary; but this little chapel looks, though in the midst of a 
city, as if it should have been sacred to St. John of the 
wilderness. There is a sequestered little garden behind it^ 
hardly large enough to plant cabbages in, which yet contains 
a Mount Calvary, bearing a lofty cross. The tiny path 
which leads up to this sacred spot, is not much wider than 
a sheep-track, and its cedars are but shrubs, but all is in 
proportion; and notwithstanding its fairy dimensions, there 
is something of holiness, and quiet beauty about it, that 
excites the imagination strangely. The little chapel itself 
has the same touching and impressive character. A solitary 
lamp, whose glare is tempered by delicately painted glass, 
hangs before the altar; the light of day enters dimly, yet 
richly, through crimson curtains ; and the silence with which 
the well-lined doors opened from time to time, admitting a 
youth of the establishment, who, with noiseless tread, ap- 
proached the altar, and kneeling, offered a whispering 
prayer, and retired, had something in it more calculated, 
perhaps, to generate holy thoughts, than even the swelling 
anthem heard beneath the resounding dome of St. Peter's. 

Baltimore has a handsome museum, superintended by one 
of the Peale family, well known for their devotion to natural 
science, and to works of art. It is not their fault if the 
specimens which they are enabled to display in the latter 
department are very inferior to their splendid exhibitions 
in the former. 

The theatre was closed when we were in Baltimore, but 
'we were told that it was very far from being a popular or 
fashionable amusement. We were, indeed, told this every 

183 



DOMESTIC MANNEKS 

where throughout the country^, and the information was gen- 
erally accompanied by the observation^ that the opposition 
of the clergy was the cause of it. But I suspect that this 
is not the principal cause^ especially among the men, who, 
if they were so implicit in their obedience to the clergy, 
would certainly be more constant in their attendance at the 
churches; nor would they, moreover, deem the theatre more 
righteous because an English actor, or a French dancer, per- 
formed there ; yet on such occasions the theatres overflow. 
The cause, I think, is in the character of the people. I 
never saw a population so totally divested of gaiety; there 
is no trace of this feeling from one end of the Union to the 
other. They have no fetes, no fairs, no merry-makings, no 
music in the streets, no Punch, no puppet-shows. If they 
see a comedy or a farce, they may laugh at it ; but they can 
do very well without it ; and the consciousness of the number 
of cents that must be paid to enter a theatre I am very sure j 
turns more steps from its door than any religious feeling. 
A distinguished publisher of Philadelphia told me that no 
comic publication had ever yet been found to answer in ' 
America. 

We arrived at Baltimore at the season of the "Confer- 
ence." I must be excused from giving any very distinct 
explanation of this term, as I did not receive any. From 
what I could learn, it much resembles a Revival. We en- 
tered many churches, and heard much preaching, and not l:!i 
one of the reverend orators could utter the reproach, 

"Peut-on si bien precher qu'elle ne dorme au sermon?'* 

for I never even dosed at any. There was one preacher f: 
whose manner and matter were so peculiar, that I took the i 
liberty of immediately writing down a part of his discourse 'i 
as a specimen. I confess I began writing in the middle ;| 

184 



OF THE AMERICANS 

of a sentence, for I waited in vain for a beginning. It was 
as follows: — 

^'Nevertheless, we must not lose sight of the one impor- 
tant, great, and only object; for the Lord is mighty, his 
works are great, likewise wonderful, likewise wise, likewise 
merciful; and moreover, we must ever keep in mind, and 
close to our hearts, all his precious blessings, and unspeak- 
able mercies and overflowings; and, moreover we must never 
lose sight of, no, never lose sight of, nor ever cease to re- 
member, nor ever let our souls forget, nor ever cease to 
dwell, upon, and to reverence, and to welcome, and to bless, 
land to give thanks, and to sing hosanna, and give praise," 
and here my fragment of paper failed, but this strain 



continued, without a shadow of meaning that I could trace, 
and in a voice inconceivably loud, for more than an hour. 
After he had finished his sermon, a scene exactly resembling 
that at the Cincinnati Revival took place. Two other priests 
assisted in calling forward the people, and in whispering 
comfort to them. One of these men roared out in the coars- 
est accents, *'Do you want to go to hell to-night?" The 
church was almost entirely filled with women, who vied 
with each other in bowlings and contortions of the body; 
many of them tore their clothes nearly off. I was much 
amused, spite of the indignation and disgust the scene in- 
spired, by the vehemence of the negro part of the congre- 
gation ; they seemed determined to bellow louder than all the 
rest, to show at once their piety and their equality. 

At this same chapel, a few nights before, a woman had 
fallen in a fit of ecstasy from the gallery, into the arms of 
the people below, a height of twelve feet. A young slave 
who waited upon us at table, when this was mentioned, said, 
that similar accidents had frequently happened, and that 
once she had seen it herself. Another slave in the house 
told us, that she "liked religion right well, but that she never 

185 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

took fits in it, 'cause she was alv/ays fixed in her best when | 
she went to chapel^ and she did not like to have all her best 
clothes broke up.'* 

We visited the infant school, instituted in this city by Mr. 
Ibbertson, an amiable and intelligent Englishman. It was 
the first infant school, properly so called, which I had ever 
seen, and I was greatly pleased with all the arrangements, 
and the apparent success of them. The children, of whom 
we saw about a hundred, boys and girls, were between eight- 
een months and six years. The apartment was filled with 
all sorts of instructive and amusing objects; a set of Dutch 
toys, arranged as a cabinet of natural history, was excellent; 
a numerous collection of large wooden bricks filled one cor- 
ner of the room; the walls were hung with gay papers of 
different patterns, each representing some pretty group of 
figures ; large and excellent coloured engravings of birds and 
beasts were exhibited in succession as the theme of a little 
lesson; and the sweet flute of Mr. Ibbertson gave tune and 
time to the prettiest little concert of chirping birds that I 
ever listened to. 

A geographical model, large enough to give clear ideas 
of continent, island, cape, isthmus, et cetera, all set in water, 
is placed before the children, and the pretty creatures point 
their little rosy fingers with a look of intense interest, as they 
are called upon to show where each of them is to be found. 
The dress, b©th of boys and girls, was elegantly neat^ and 
their manner, when called upon to speak individually, was 
well-bred, intelligent, and totally free from the rude indif- 
ference, which is so remarkably prevalent in the manners of 
American children. Mr. Ibbertson will be a benefactor to 
the Union, if he become the means of spreading the admira- 
ble method by which he has polished the manner, and awak- 
ened the intellect of these beautiful little Republicans. I 
have conversed with many American ladies on the total want 

186 



OP THE AMEKICANS 

of discipline and subjection which I observed universally 
among children of all ages^ and I never found any who did 
not both acknowledge and deplore the truth of the remark. 
In the state of Ohio they have a law (I know not if it exist 
elsewhere)^ that if a father strike his son^ he shall pay a fine 
j of ten dollars for every such offence. I was told by a gen- 
tleman of Cincinnati, that he had seen this fine inflicted 
there, at the requisition of a boy of twelve years of age, 
whose father, he proved, had struck him for lying. Such 
a law, they say, generates a spirit of freedom. What else 

I may it generate? 
Mr. Ibbertson, who seems perfectly devoted, heart and 
head to the sub j ect, told me that he was employed in or- 
ganizing successive schools that should receive the pupiliS 
I as they advanced in age. If he prove himself as capable 
I of completing education, as he appears to be of beginning 
it, his institution will be a very valuable one. It would, 
indeed, be valuable any where; but in America, where dis- 
I cipline is not, where, from the shell, they are beings "that 
cannot rule, nor ever will be ruled," it is invaluable. 

About two miles from Baltimore is a fort, nobly situated 
on the Patapsco, and commanding the approach from the 
Chesapeake bay. As our visit was on a Sunday we were 
not permitted to enter it. The walk to this fort is along a 
fine terrace of beautiful verdure, which commands a mag- 
nificent view of the city, with its columns, towers, domes, 
and shipping; and also of the Patapsco river, which is here 
so wide as to present almost a sea view. This terrace is 
ornamented with abundance of evergreens, and wild roses 
innumerable, but the whole region has the reputation of be- 
ing unhealthy, and the fort itself most lamentably so. Be- 
fore leaving the city of monuments, I must not omit naming 
one reared to the growing wealth of the country; Mr. 
Barham's hotel is said to be the most splendid in the Union, 

187 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

and it is certainly splendid enough for a people more lux- 
urious than the citizens of the republic appear yet to be. 
I heard diiferent, and, indeed, perfectly contradictory ac- 
counts of the success of the experiment; but at least every 
one seemed to agree that the liberal projector was fully 
entitled to exclaim, 

*' 'Tis not in mortals to command success ; ^ 

I have done more, Jonathan, I've deserved it." i 

After enjoying a very pleasant fortnight, the greater 
part of which was passed in rambling about this pretty city 
and its environs, we left it, not without regret, and all in- 
dulging the hope that we should be able to pay it anothei/ 
visit. 



188 



CHAPTER XX 

Voyage to Washington — Capitol — City of Wash^ 
ington — Congress — Indians — Funeral of a Mem- 
ber of Congress 

By far the shortest route to Washington, both as to distance 
and time, is by land; but I much wished to see the cele- 
brated Chesapeake bay, and it was therefore decided that 
we should take our passage in the steam-boat. It is in- 
deed a beautiful little voyage, and well worth the time it 
costs; but as to the beauty of the bay, it must, I think, be 
felt only by sailors. It is, I doubt not, a fine shelter for 
ships, from the storms of the Atlantic, but its very vast^ 
ness prevents its striking the eye as beautiful: it is, in fact, 
only a fine sea view. But the entrance from it into the 
Potomac river is very noble, and is one of the points at 
which one feels conscious of the gigantic proportions of 
the country, without having recourse to a graduated pencil- 
case. 

The passage up this river to Washington is interesting, 
from many objects that it passes, but beyond all else, by the 
view it affords of Mount Vernon, the seat of General Wash- 
ington. It is there that this truly great man passed the 
last years of his virtuous life, and it is there that he lies 
buried; it was easy to distinguish, as we passed, the cypress 
[that waves over his grave. 

! The latter part of the voyage shows some fine river scen- 
ery ; but I did not discover this till some months afterwards, 
for we now arrived late at night. 

Our first object the next morning was to get a sight of 
the capitol, and our impatience sent us forth before break- 

189 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

fast. The mists of morning still hung around this magnif- 
icent building when first it broke upon our view^ and I am 
not sure that the effect produced was not the greater for 
this circumstance. At all events^ we were struck with ad- 
miration and surprise. None of us, I believe, expected to 
see so imposing a structure on that side the Atlantic. I am 
ill at describing buildings, but the beauty and majesty of 
the American capitol might defy an abler pen than mine 
to do it justice. It stands so finely too, high, and alone. 

The magnificent western fa9ade is approached from the 
city by terraces and steps of bolder proportions than I everij 
before saw. The elegant eastern front, to which many per- ' 
sons give the preference, is on a level with a newly-planted 
but exceedingly handsome enclosure, which, in a few years, , 
will offer the shade of all the most splendid trees which 
flourish in the Union, to cool the brows and refresh the 
spirits of the members. The view from the capitol com- 
mands the city and many miles around, and it is itself an 
object of imposing beauty to the whole country adjoining, i 

AVe were again fortunate enough to find a very agree- 
able family to board with; and soon after breakfast left 
our comfortless hotel near the water, for very pleasant 
apartments in F. street*. 

I was delighted with the whole aspect of Washington; 
light, cheerful, and airy, it reminded me of our fashionable 
watering-places. It has been laughed at by foreigners; 
and even by natives, because the original plan of the city 
was upon an enormous scale, and but a very small part of it 
has been as yet executed. But I confess I see nothing in 
the least degree ridiculous about it; the original design^ 
which was as beautiful as it was extensive, has been in no 
way departed from, and all that has been done has been 

• The streets that intersect the great avenues in Washington are 
distinguished by the letters of the alphabet. 



OF THE AMERICANS 

done well. From the base of the hill on which the capitol 
stands extends a street of most magnificent width, planted 
on each side with trees, and ornamented by many splendid 
ishops. This street, which is called Pennsylvania Avenue, 
is above a mile in length, and at the end of it is the hand- 
some mansion of the President; conveniently near to his 
residence are the various public offices, all handsome, sim- 
ple, and commodious; ample areas are left round each, 
where grass and shrubs refresh the eye. In another of the 
princijDal streets is the general post-office, and not far from 
it a very noble town-hall. Towards the quarter of the 
[President's house are several handsome dwellings, which 
are chiefly occupied by the foreign ministers. The houses 
in the other parts of the city are scattered, but without ever 
losing sight of the regularity of the original plan ; and to a 
person who has been traveling much through the country, 
land marked the immense quantity of new manufactories, 
new canals, new railroads, new towns, and new cities, which 
are springing, as it were, from the earth in every part of it, 
the appearance of the metropolis rising gradually into life 
and splendour, is a spectacle of high historic interest. 

Commerce had already produced large and handsome 
cities in America before she had attained to an individual 
political existence, and Washington may be scorned as a 
. jmetropolis, where such cities as Philadelphia and New York 
exist; but I considered it as the growing metropolis of the 
growing population of the Union, and it already possesses 
features noble enough to sustain its dignity as such. 
I The residence of the foreign legations and their families 
gives a tone to the society of this city which distinguishes 
it greatly from all others. It is also, for a great part of 
the year, the residence of the senators and representatives, 
who must be presumed to be the elite of the entire body of 
citizens, both in respect to talent and education. This 

191 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

cannot fail to make Washington a more agreeable abode 
than any other city in the Union. 

The total absence of all sights^ sounds, or smells of com- 
merce, adds greatly to the charm. Instead of drays you 
see handsome carriages; and instead of the busy bustling 
hustle of men, shuffling on to a sale of "dry goods" oi 
* 'prime broad stuffs/' you see very well-dressed personages 
lounging leisurely up and down Pennsylvania Avenue. 

Mr. Pishey Thompson, the English bookseller, with his 
pretty collection of all sorts of pretty literature, fresh from 
London, and Mr. Somebody, the jeweller, with his brilliani 
shop full of trinkets, are the principal points of attraction 
and business. What a contrast to all other American cit- 
ies! The members, who pass several months every year in 
this lounging easy way, with no labour but a little talking 
and with the douceur of eight dollars a day to pay them foi 
it, must feel the change sadly when their term of public 
service is over. 

There is another circumstance which renders the evening 
parties at Washington extremely unlike those of othei 
places in the Union; this is the great majority of gentle- 
men. The expense, the trouble, or the necessity of a ruling 
eye at home, one or all of these reasons, prevents the mem- 
bers* ladies from accompanying them to Washington; a\ 
least, I heard of very few who had their wives with them 
The female society is chiefly to be found among the families 
of the foreign ministers, those of the officers of state, and 
of the few members, the wealthiest and most aristocratic ol 
the land, who bring their families with them. Some fe\^ 
independent persons reside in or near the city, but this is ? 
class so thinly scattered that they can hardly be accountea 
a part of the population. 

But, strange to say, even here a theatre cannot be sup- 
ported for more than a few weeks at a time. I was told! 

192 



OF THE AMERICANS 

I 
■ji ■ . , 

that gambling is the favourite recreation of the ^gentlemen_. 
and that it is carried to a very considerable extent; but here^ 
as elsewhere within the country^ it is kept extremely well 
out of sight. I do not think I was present with a pack of 
cards a dozen times during more than three years that I 
remained in the country. Billiards are much j)layed^ though 
in most places the amusement is illegal. It often appeared 
to me that the old women of a state made the laws, and the 
voung men broke them. 

Notwithstanding the diminutive size of the city, we found 
much to seC;, and to amuse us. 

j The patent office is a curious record of the fertility of the 
mind of man when left to its own resources; but it gives 
ample proof also that it is not under such circumstances it 
IS most usefully employed. This patent office contains 
models of all the mechanical inventions that have been pro- 
duced in the Union, and the number is enormous. I asked 
the man who showed these, what proportion of them had 
been brought into use; he said about one in a thousand; he 
told me also, that they chiefly proceeded from mechanics 
and agriculturists settled in remote parts of the country, 
who had begun by endeavoring to hit upon some contriv- 
ance to enable them to get along without sending some thou- 
sand and odd miles for the thing they wanted. If the 
contrivance succeeded, they generally became so fond of 
this offspring of their ingenuity, that they brought it to 
Washington for a patent. 

At the secretary of state's office we were shown auto- 
graphs of all the potentates with whom the Union were in 
alliance; which, I believe, pretty well includes all. To the 
parchments bearing these royal signs manual were ap- 
pended, of course, the official seals of each, enclosed in gold 
or silver boxes of handsome workmanship : I was amused by 
the manner in which one of their own, just prepared for 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

the court of Russia^ was displayed to us, and the superiority 
of their decorations pointed out. They were superior, anc 
in much better taste than the rest; and I only wish that th(,j 
feeling that induced this display would spread to everj' 
corner of the Union, and mix itself with every act and witl 
every sentiment. Let America give a fair portion of hei 
attention to the arts and the graces that embellish life, anc 
I will make her another visit, and write another book as un 
like this as possible. 

Among the royal signatures, the only ones which mucl 
interested me were two from the hand of Napoleon. Th< 
earliest of these, when he was first consul, was a most illegi- 
ble scrawl, and, as the tradition went, was written on horse 
back; but his writing improved greatly after he became ar 
emperor, the subsequent signature being firmly and clearly 
written. — I longed to steal both. 

The purity of the American character, formed anc 
founded on the purity of the American government, waj 
made evident to our senses by the display of all the oiferingj: 
of esteem and regard which had been presented by varioui 
sovereigns to the different American ministers who hac 
been sent to their courts. The object of the law whicl 
exacted this deposit from every individual so honoured, was 
they told us, to prevent the possibility of bribery being usee 
to corrupt any envoy of the Republic. I should think i 
would be a better way to select for the office such men a; 
they felt could not be seduced by a sword or a snuff-box 
But they, doubtless, know their own business best. 

The bureau for Indian affairs contains a room of grea' 
interest: the walls are entirely covered with original por 
traits of all the chiefs who, from time to time, have com< 
to negotiate with their great father, as they call the Pres 
ident. These portraits are by Mr. King, and, it cannot b< 
doubted, are excellent likenesses^ as are all the portraits ] 



OF THE AMERICANS 

hsvsi ever seen from" the hands of that gentleman. The 
countenances are full of exi^ression^ but the expression in 
most of them is extremely similar; or rather, I should say 
that they have but two sorts of expression; the one is that 
of very noble and warlike daring, the other of a gentle and 
naive simplicity, that has no mixture of folly in it, but 
which is inexpressibly engaging, and the more touching, 
perhaps, because at the moment we were looking at them^ 
those very hearts which lent the eyes such meek and friend- 
ly softness, were wrung by a base, cruel, and most opjDress- / 
ive act of their great father. ^ 

We were at Washington at the time that the measure for 
chasing the last of several tribes of Indians from their for- 
est homes, was canvassed in congress, and finally decided 
upon by the -flat of the President. If the American char- 
acter may be judged by their conduct in this matter, they 
iare most lamentably deficient in every feeling of honour and 
integrity. It is among themselves, and from themselves, 
that I have heard the statements which represent them as 
treacherous and false almost beyond belief in their inter- 
course with the unhappy Indians. Had I, during my resi- 
dence in the United States, observed any single feature in 
their national character that could justify their eternal 
boast of liberality and the love of freedom, I might have 
respected them, however much my taste might have been 
ofi'ended by what was peculiar in their manners and cus- 
toms. But it is impossible for any mind of common hon- 
esty not to be revolted by the contradictions in their prin- 
ciples and practice. They inveigh against the governments 
of Europe, because, as they say, they favour the powerful ^ 
and oppress the weak. You may hear this declaimed upon 
in Congress, roared out in taverns, discussed in every draw- 
ing-room, satirized upon the stage, nay, even anathematized 
from the pulpit : listen to it, and then look at them at home ; 

195 



DOMESTIC MANNEES 

you will see them with one hand hoisting the cap of liberty, 
and with the other flogging their slaves. You will see 
them one hour lecturing their mob on the indefeasible rights 
of man^ and the next driving from their homes the children 
of the soil, whom they have bound themselves to protect by 
the most solemn treaties. 

In justice to those who approve not this treacherous 
policy, I will quote a paragraph from a New York paper, 
which shows that there are some among them who look with 
detestation on the bold bad measure decided upon at Wash- 
ington in the year 1830. 

"We know of no subject, at the present moment, of more 
importance to the character of our country for justice and 
integrity than that which relates to the Indian tribes in 
Georgia and Alabama, and particularly the Cherokees in 
the former state. The Act passed by Congress, just at the 
end of the session, co-operating with the tyrannical and 
iniquitous statute of Georgia, strikes a formidable blow at 
the reputation of the United States, in respect to their 
faith, pledged in almost innumerable instances, in the most 
solemn treaties and compacts." 

There were many object'^of much interest shown us at 
this Indian bureau; but, from the peculiar circumstances of 
this most unhappy and ill-used people, it was a very painful 
interest. 

The dresses worn by the chiefs when their portraits were 
taken, are many of them splendid, from the embroidery of 
beads and other ornaments; and the room contains many 
specimens of their ingenuity, and even of their taste. There 
is a glass case in the room, wherein are arranged specimens 
of worked muslin, and other needle- work, some very excel- 
lent hand-writing, and many other little productions of male 
and female Indians, all proving clearly that they are per- 
fectly capable of civilization. Indeed, the circumstance 

196 



OF THE AMERICANS 

' which renders their expulsion from their own, their native 
lands_, so peculiarly lamentable, is, that they were yielding 
rapidly to the force of example; their lives were no longer 
those of wandering hunters, but they were becoming agri- 
culturists, and the tyrannical arm of brutal power has not 
now driven them, as formerly, only from their hunting- 

: grounds, their favourite springs, and the sacred bones of 
their fathers, but it has chased them from the dwellings 
their advancing knowledge had taught them to make com- 
fortable; from the newly-ploughed fields of their pride; 

I and from the crops their sweat had watered. And for 
what? To add some thousand acres of territory to the 

j half -peopled wilderness which borders them. 

I * * •:f * * * -K- * * 

The Potomac, on arriving at Washington, makes a beau- 
i tiful sweep, which forms a sort of bay, round which the city 
I is built. Just where it makes the turn, a wooden bridge 
is thrown across, connecting the shores of Maryland and 
Virginia. This bridge is a mile and a quarter in length, 
and is ugly enough^. The navy-yard and arsenal are just 
above it, on the Maryland side, and make a handsome ap- 
pearance on the edge of the river, following the sweep 
above mentioned. Near the arsenal (much too near) is the 
penitentiary, which, as it was just finished, and not inhab- 
ited, we examined in every part. It is built for the purpose 
of solitary confinement for life. A gallows is a much less 
nerve-shaking spectacle than one of these awful cells, and 
assuredly, when imprisonment therein for life is substi- 
tuted for death, it is no mercy to the criminal; but if it be 
a greater terror to the citizen, it may answer the purpose 
better. I do not conceive, that out of a hundred human 
beings who had been thus confined for a year, one would 

* It has since been washed away by the breaking up of the frost 
of February, 1831. 

197 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

be found at the end of it who would contmue to linger on 
there_, certain it was for ever, if the alternative of being 
hanged were offered to them. I had written a description 
of these horrible cells, but Captain Hall's picture of a sim- 
ilar building is so accurate and so clear, that it is needless 
to insert it. 

Still following the sweep of the river, at the distance of 
two miles from Washington, is George Town, formerly a 
place of considerable commercial importance, and likely, 
I think, to become so again, when the Ohio and Chesapeake 
canal, which there mouths into the Potomac, shall be in 
full action. It is a very pretty town, commanding a lovely 
view, of which the noble Potomac and the almost nobler 
capitol, are the great features. The country rises into a 
beautiful line of hills behind Washington, which form a sort 
of undulating terrace on to George Town; this terrace is 
almost entirely occupied by a succession of gentlemen's 
seats. At George Town the Potomac suddenly contracts 
itself, and begins to assume that rapid, rocky, and irreg- 
ular character which marks it afterwards, and renders its 
course, till it meets the Shenandoah at Harper's Ferry, a 
series of the most wild and romantic views that are to be 
found in America. 

Attending the debates in Congress was, of course, one of 
our great objects; and, as an English woman, I was perhaps 
the more eager to avail myself of the privilege allowed. 
It was repeatedly observed to me that, at least in this in- 
stance, I must acknowledge the superior gallantry of the 
Americans, and that they herein give a decided proof of 
surpassing the English in a wish to honour the ladies, as 
they have a gallery in the House of Representatives erected 
expressly for them, while in England they are rigorously 
excluded from every part of the House of Commons. 

But the inference I draw from this is precisely the re- 

198 



OF THE AMERICANS 

verse of that suggested. It is well known that the reason 
why the House of Commons was closed against ladies waSj 
that their presence was found too attractive^ and that so 
many members were tempted to neglect the business before 
the House, that they might enjoy the pleasure of conversing 
with the fair critics in the galleries, that it became a matter 
of national importance to banish them — and they were ban- 
ished. It will be long ere the American legislature will 
find it necessary to pass the same law for the same reason. 
A lady of Washington, however, told me an anecdote which 
went far to show that a more intellectual turn in the women 
would produce a change in the manners of the men. She 
told me, that when the Miss Wrights were in Washington, 
with General Lafayette, they very frequently attended the 
debates, and that the most distinguished members were al- 
ways crowding round them. For this unwonted gallantry 
they apologized to their beautiful countrywomen by saying, 
that if they took equal interest in the debates, the galleries 
would be always thronged by the members. 

The privilege of attending these debates would be more 
valuable could the speakers be better heard from the gal- 
lery; but, with the most earnest attention, I could only fol- 
low one or two of the orators, whose voices were peculiarly 
loud and clear. This made it really a labour to listen; but 
the extreme beauty of the chamber was of itself a reason 
for going again and again. It was, however, really morti- 
fying to see this splendid hall, fitted up in so stately and 
sumptuous a manner, filled with men sitting in the most 
unseemly attitudes, a large majority with their hats on, and 
nearly all spitting to an excess that decency forbids me to 
describe. 

Among the crowd, who must be included in this descrip- 
tion, a few were distinguished by not wearing their hats, 
and by sitting on their chairs like other human beings^ 

199 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

without throwing theii* legs above their heads. Whenever 
I inquired the name of one of these exceptions, I was told 
that it was Mr. This, or Mr. That, of Virginia. 

One day we were fortunate enough to get placed on the 
sofas between the pillars, on the floor of the House; the 
galleries being shut up, for the purpose of making some 
alterations, which it was hoped might improve the hearing 
in that part of the House occupied by the members, and 
which is universally complained of, as being very defective.* 
But in our places on the sofas we found we heard very 
much better than up stairs, and well enough to be extremely 
amused by the rude eloquence of a thorough horse and alli- 
gator orator from Kentucky, who entreated the house re- 
peatedly to "go the whole hog." 

If I mistake not, every debate I listened to in the Amer- 
ican Congress was upon one and the same subject, namely, 
the entire independence of each individual state, with re- 
gard to the federal government. The jealousy on this 
point appeared to me to be the very strangest political 
feeling that ever got possession of the mind of man. I 
do not pretend to judge the merits of this question. I 
speak solely of the very singular effect of seeing man after 
man start eagerly to his feet, to declare that the greatest 
injury, the basest injustice, the most obnoxious tyranny 
that could be practised against the state of which he was a 
member, would be a vote of a few million dollars for the 
purpose of making their roads or canals; or for drainage; 
or, in short, for any purposes of improvement whatsoever. 

* As a proof of this defective hearing in the Hall of Congress, I 
may quote a passage from a newspaper report of a debate on im- 
provements. It was proposed to suspend a ceiling of glass fifteen 
feet above the heads of the members. A Member speaking in favour 
of this proposal, said, "Members would then, at least, be able to un- 
derstand what was the question before the House, an advantage 
which most of them did not now possess, respecting more than half 
the propositions upon which they voted." 

200 



OF THE AMERICANS 

During the month we were at Washington, I heard a 
great deal of conversation respecting a recent exclusion 
from Congress of a gentleman^, who, by every account, 
was one of the most esteemed men in the House, and, 
I think, the father of it. The crime for which this gentle- 
man was out-voted by his own particular friends and admir- 
ers was, that he had given his vote for the grant of public 
money for the purpose of draining a most lamentable and 
unhealthy district, called "the dismal swamp F' 

One great boast of the country is, that they have no 
national debt, or that they shall have none in two years. 
This seems not very wonderful, considering their produc- 
itive tariff, and that the income paid to their president is 
6,000^. per annum; other government salaries being in pro- 
portion, and all internal improvements, at the expense of 
the government treasury, being voted unconstitutional. 

The Senate-chamber is, like the Hall of Congress, a 
semicircle, but of very much smaller dimensions. It is 
most elegantly fitted up, .ind what is better still, the sena- 
tors, generally speaking, look like gentlemen. They do 
not wear their hats, and the activity of youth being hap- 
pily past, they do not toss their heels above their heads, 
I would I could add they do not spit; but, alas ! "I have an 
oath in heaven," and may not write an untruth. 

A very handsome room, opening on a noble stone balcony 
is fitted up as a library for the members. The collection, 
as far as a very cursory view could enable me to judge, 
was very like that of a private English gentleman, but 
with less Latin, Greek, and Italian. This room also is 
elegantly furnished; rich Brussels carpet; library tables, 
with portfolios of engravings; abundance of sofas, and so 
on. The view from it is glorious, and it looks like the 
abode of luxury and taste. 

I can by no means attempt to describe all the apartments 

201 



DOMESTIC MANNEES 

of this immense building, but the magnificent rotunda in the 
centre must not be left unnoticed. It is, indeed, a noble 
hall, a hundred feet in diameter, and of an imposing lofti- 
ness, lighted by an ample dome. 

Almost any pictures (excepting the cartoons) would 
look paltry in this room, from the immense height of the 
walls; but the subject of the four pictures which are 
placed there are of such high historic interest that they 
should certainly have a place somewhere, as national rec- 
ords. One represents the signing of the declaration of 
independence; another the resignation of the presidency 
by the great Washington; another the celebrated victory of 
General Gates at Saratoga; and the fourth .... I do not 
well remember, but I think it is some other martial scene, 
commemorating a victory; I rather think that of York 
Town. ^ 

One other obj ect in the capitol must be mentioned, though 
it occurs in so obscure a part of the building, that one or 
two members to whom I mentioned it were not aware of its 
existence. The lower part of the edifice, a story below the 
rotunda, &c., has a variety of committee rooms, courts, and 
other places of business. In a hall leading to some of these 
rooms, the ceiling is supported by pillars, the capitals of 
which struck me as peculiarly beautiful. They are com- 
posed of the ears and leaves of the Indian corn, beautifully 
arranged, and forming as graceful an outline as the acan- 
thus itself. This was the only instance I saw, in which 
America has ventured to attempt national originality; the 
success is perfect. A sense of fitness always enhances the 
effect of beauty. I will not attempt a long essay on the 
subj ect, * but if America, in her vastness, her immense 
natural resources, and her remote grandeur, would be less 
imitative, she would be infinitely more picturesque and 
interesting. 

202 



OF THE AMERICANS 

The President has regular evening parties, every other 
Wednesday, which are called his levees; the last syllable 
is pronounced by every one as long as possible, being ex- 
actly the reverse of the French and English manner of 
pronouncing the same word. The effect of this, from the 
very frequent repetition of the word in all companies, is 
very droll, and for a long time I thought people were quiz- 
zing these public days. The reception rooms are hand- 
some, particularly the grand saloon, which is elegantly, 
nay, splendidly furnished; this has been done since the 
visit of Captain Hall, whose remarks upon the former 
state of this room may have hastened its decoration; but 
there are a few anomalies in some parts of the entertain- 
ment, which are not very courtly. The company are about 
as select as that of an Easter-day ball at the Mansion- 
house. 

The churches at Washington are not superb; but the 
Episcopalian and Catholic were filled with elegantly dressed 
women. I observed a greater proportion of gentlemen at 
church at Washington than any where else. 

The Presbyterian ladies go to church three times in the 
day, but the general appearance of Washington on a Sun- 
day is much less puritanical than that of most other Amer- 
ican towns; the people walk about, and there are no chains 
in the streets, as at Philadelphia, to prevent their riding or 
driving, if they like it. 

The ladies dress well, but not so splendidly as at Balti- 
more. I remarked that it was not very unusual at Wash- 
ington for a lady to take the arm of a gentleman, who was 
neither her husband, her father, nor her brother. This 
remarkable relaxation of American decorum has been prob- 
ably introduced by the foreign legations. 

At about a mile from the town, on the high terrace-ground 
above described, is a very pretty place, to which the 

203 



DOMESTIC MANNERS I 

proprietor has given the name of Kaleirama. It is not large. ' 
or in any way magnificent_, but the view from it is charm- 
ing; and it has a little wood behind^ covering about two 
hundred acres of broken ground, that slopes down to a 
dark cold little river, so closely shut in by rocks and ever- 
greens, that it might serve as a noon-day bath for Diana 
and her nymphs. The whole of this wood is filled with 
wild flowers, but such as we cherish fondly in our gardens. 

A ferry at George Town crosses the Potomac, and about 
two miles from it, on the Virginian side, is Arlington, the 
seat of Mr. Custis, who is the grandson of General Wash- 
ington's wife. It is a noble-looking place, having a portico 
of stately white columns, which, as the mansion stands high, 
with a back-ground of dark woods, forms a beautiful object 
in the landscape. At George Town is a nunnery, where 
many young ladies are educated, and at a little distance 
from it, a college of Jesuits for the education of young men, 
where, as their advertisements state, "the humanities are 
taught." 

We attended mass at the chapel of the nunnery, where 
the female voices that performed the chant were very pleas- 
ing. The shadowy form of the veiled abbess in her little 
sacred parlour, seen through a grating and a black curtain, 
but rendered clearly visible by the light of a Gothic win- 
dow behind her, drew a good deal of our attention; every 
act of genuflexion, even the telling her beads, was dis- 
cernible, but so mistily, that it gave her indeed the appear- 
ance of a being who had already quitted this life, and was 
hovering on the confines of the world of shadows. 
. The convent has a considerable inclosure attached to it, 
where I frequently saw, from the heights above it, dark 
figures in awfully thick black veils walking solemnly up 
and down. 

The American lady, who was the subject of one of Prince 

204 



OP THE AMERICANS 

Holienlohc's celebrated miracles, was pointed out to us at 

AVashiiigton. All the world declare that her recovery was 

marvellous. 

* -x- -X- * * * * 

There appeared to be a great many foreigners at Wash- 
ington, particularly French. In Paris I have often observed 
that it was a sort of fashion to speak of America as a new 
Utopia, especially among the young liberals, who, before 
the happy accession of Philip, fancied that a country with- 
out a king was the land of promise ; but I sometimes thought 
that, like many other fine things, it lost part of its bril- 
jliance when examined too nearly ; I overheard the following 
question and answer pass between two young Frenchmen, 
jWho appeared to have met for the first time. 
! "Eh bien. Monsieur, comment trouvez-vous la liberte et 
I'egalite mises en action?" 

"Mais, Monsieur, je vous avoue que le beau ideal que nous 
autres, nous avons con9u de tout cela a Paris, avait quelque 
chose de plus poetique que ce que nous trouvons ici!" 
•' On another occasion I was excessively amused by the 
tone in which one of these young men replied to a question 
put to him by another Frenchman. A pretty-looking 
woman, but exceedingly deficient in tourfiure, was standing 
alone at a little distance from them, and close at their 
elbows stood a very awkward-looking gentleman. "Qui est 
cette dame }" said the inquirer. "Monsieur," said my young 
fat, with an indescribable grimace, "c*est la femelle de ce 
male," indicating his neighbour by an expressive curl of his 
upper lip. 

The theatre was not open while we were in Washington, 
but we afterwards took advantage of our vicinity to the city 
to visit it. The house is very small, and most astonishingly 
dirty and void of decoration, considering that it is the only 
place of public amusement that the city affords. I have 

205 



DOMESTIC MANNERS I 

before mentioned the want of decorum at the Cincinnati 
theatre, but certainly that of the capital at least rivalled it 
in the freedom of action and attitude; a freedom which 
seems to disdain the restraints of civilized manners. One !j 
man in the pit was seized with a violent fit of vomiting, 
which appeared not in the least to annoy or surprise his 
neighbours ; and the happy coincidence of a physician being 
at that moment personated on the stage, was hailed by many 
of the audience as an excellent joke, of which the actor took 
advantage, and elicited shouts of applause by saying, "I 
expect my services are wanted elsewhere." 

The spitting was incessant ; and not one in ten of the male i 
part of the illustrious legislative audience sat according to 
the usual custom of human beings ; the legs were thrown 
sometimes over the front of the box, sometimes over the 
side of it; here and there a senator stretched his entire 
length along a bench ; and in many instances the front rail i 
was preferred as a seat. 

I remarked one young man, whose handsome person, and 
most elaborate toilet, led me to conclude he was a first-rate 
personage, and so I doubt not he was; nevertheless, I saw 
him take from the pocket of his silk waistcoat a lump of jj 
tobacco, and daintily deposit it within his cheek. i 

I am inclined to think this most vile and universal habit 
of chewing tobacco is the cause of a remarkable peculiarity 
in the male physiognomy of Americans ; their lips are almost 
uniformly thin and compressed. At first I accounted for 
this upon Lavater's theory, and attributed it to the arid 
temperament of the people; but it is too universal to be so 
explained; whereas the habit above mentioned, which per- 
vades all classes, (excepting the literary,) well accounts for 
it, as the act of expressing the juices of this loathsome herb 
enforces exactly that position of the lips, which gives this 
remarkable peculiarity to the American countenance. 

206 



OF THE AMERICANS 

A member of Congress died while we were at Washing- 
ton, and I was surprised by the ceremony and dignity of 
his fmieral. It seems that whenever a senator or member 
of Congress dies during the session, he is buried at the ex- 
pense of the government (this ceremony not coming under 
the head of internal improvement), and the arrangements 
Jfor the funeral are not interfered with by his friends, but 
become matters of State. I transcribed the order of the 
iprocession as being rather grand and stately. 

Chaplains of both Houses. 

Physicians who attended the deceased. 

Committee of arrangement. 

THE BODY, 

(Pall borne by six members.) 

The Relations of the deceased, with the Senators and 

Representatives of the State to which he belonged, 

as Mourners. 

j Sergeant at arms of the House of Representatives. 

The House of Representatives, 

Their Speaker and Clerk preceding. 

The Senate of the United States, 

The Vice-president and Secretary preceding. 

The President. 

j The procession was of considerable extent, but not on 
foot, and the majority of the carriages were hired for the 
occasion. The body was interred in an open "grave-yard" 
itiear the city. I did not see the monument erected on this 
3Ccasion, but I presume it was in the same style as several 
Dthers I had remarked in the same burying-ground, in- 
scribed to the memory of members who had died at Wash- 
ington. These were square blocks of masonry without any 
pretension to splendour. 

207 



CHAPTER XXI 

Stonington' — Great Falls of the Potomac 

I 
The greatest pleasure I had promised myself in visiting • 

Washington was the seeing a very old friend_, who had left \ 
England many years ago, and married in America ; she was i 
now a widow, and, as I believed, settled in Washington. 
I soon had the mortification of finding that she was not in 
the city; but ere long I learnt that her residence was not s 
more than ten miles from it. We speedily met, and it was , 
settled that we should pass the summer with her in Mary- 
land, and after a month devoted to Washington, we left it 
for Stonington. 

We arrived there the beginning of May, and the kindness 
of our reception, the interest we felt in becoming acquainted I 
with the family of my friend, the extreme beauty of the ; 
surrounding country, and the lovely season, altogether, 
made our stay there a period of great enjoyment. 

I wonder not that the first settlers in Virginia, with the 
bold Captain Smith of chivalrous memory at their head; ; 
should have fought so stoutly to dispossess the valiant father j 
of Pocohantas of his fair domain, for I certainly never saw | 
a more tempting territory. Stonington is about two miles 
from the most romantic point of the Potomac river, and 
Virginia spreads her wild, but beautiful, and most fertile 
Paradise, on the opposite shore. The Maryland side par- 
takes of the same character, and perfectly astonished usi 
by the profusion of her wild fruits and flowers. 

We had not been long within reach of the great falls of 
the Potomac before a party was made for us to visit them; 
the walk from Stonington to these falls is through scenery ii 
that can hardly be called forest, park, or garden ; but which 

208 



OF THE AMERICANS 

partakes of all three. A little English girl accompanied us, 
who had but lately left her home; slie exclaimed, "Oh! how 
many Englisli ladies would glory in such a garden as this !" 
and in truth they might ; cedars, tulip-trees, planes, shumacs, 
junipers, and oaks of various kinds,. most of them new to us, 
shaded our path. Wild vines, with their rich expansive 
leaves, and their sweet blossom, rivalling the mignonette in 
fragrance, clustered round their branches. Strawberries 
in full bloom, violets, anemones, heart's-ease, and wild 
pinks, with many other, and still lovelier flowers, which my 
ignorance forbids me to name, literally covered the ground. 
The arbor judae, the dog-wood, in its fullest glory of star- 
like flowers, azaleas, and wild roses, dazzled our eyes 
whichever way we turned them. It was the most flowery 
tv.'o miles I ever walked. 

I The sound of the falls is heard at Stonington, and the 
gradual increase of this sound is one of the agreeable fea- 
tures of this delicious walk. I know not why the rush of 
waters is so delightful to the ear; all other monotonous 
sounds are wearying, and harass the spirits, but I never met 
any one who did not love to listen to a water-fall. A rapid 
stream, called the "Branch Creek,'* was to be crossed ere 
we reached the spot where the falls are first visible. This 
rumbling, turbid, angry little rivulet, flows through ever- 
greens and flowering underwood, and is crossed a plusieurs 
reprises, by logs thrown from rock to rock. The thundering 
noise of the still unseen falls suggests an idea of danger 
while crossing these rude bridges, which hardly belongs to 
them; having reached the other side of the creek, we con- 
tinued under the shelter of the evergreens for another quar- 
ter of a mile, and then emerged upon a sight that drew a 
sliout of wonder and delight from us all. The rocky depths 
of an enormous river were opened before our eyes, and so 
huge are the black crags that inclose it, that the thundering 

209 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

torrents of water rushing through, over, and among the 
rocks of this awful chasm, appear lost and swallowed up 
in it. 

The river, or rather the bed of it, is here of great width, 
and most frightful depth, lined on all sides with huge masses 
of black rock of every imaginable form. The flood that 
roars through them is seen only at intervals ; here in a full 
heavy sheet of green transparent water, falling straight and 
unbroken; there dashing along a narrow channel, with a 
violence that makes one dizzy to see and hear. In one place 
an unfathomed pool shows a mirror of inky blackness, and 
as still as night; in another the tortured twisted cataract 
tumbles headlong in a dozen different torrents, half hid by 
the cloud of spray they send high into the air. Despite this 
uproar, the slenderest, loveliest shrubs, peep forth froiE 
among these hideous rocks, like children smiling in the 
midst of danger. As we stood looking at this tremendous 
scene, one of our friends made us remark, that the poison 
alder, and the poison vine, threw their graceful, but per- 
fidious branches, over every rock, and assured us also thai 
innumerable tribes of snakes found their dark dwellings 
among them. 

To call this scene beautiful would be a strange abuse of 
terms, for it is altogether composed of sights and sounds 
of terror. The falls of the Potomac are awfully sublime; 
the dark deep gulf which yawns before you, the foaming, 
roaring cataract, the eddying whirlpool, and the giddy 
precipice, all seem to threaten life, and to appall the senses, 
Yet it was a great delight to sit upon a high and jutting 
crag, and look and listen. 

I heard with pleasure that it was to the Virginian side oi 
the Potomac that the "felicity hunters" of Washington re- 
sorted to see this fearful wonder, for I never saw a spo1 
where I should less have liked the annoying "how d'ye' 

210 



OP THE AMERICANS 

of a casual rencontre. One could not even give or receive 
the excitinsf "is it not charming/' which Rousseau talks of, 
for if it were uttered, it could not be heard, or, if heard, 
would fall most earthly dull on the spirit, when rapt by the 
magic of such a scene. A look, or the silent pressure of the 
arm, is all the interchange of feeling that such a scene al- 
lows, and in the midst of my terror and my pleasure, I 
wished for the arm and the eye of some few from the other 
side of the Atlantic. 

The return from such a scene is more soberly silent than 
the approach to it ; but the cool and quiet hour, the mellowed 
tints of some gay blossoms, and the closed bells of others, 
the drowsy hum of the insects that survive the day, and the 
moist freshness that forbids the foot to weary in its home- 
ward path, have all enjoyment in them, and seem to har- 
monize with the half-wearied, half-excited state of spirits, 
that such an excursion is sure to produce: and then the en- 
tering the cool and moonlit portico, the well-iced sangaree, 
or still more refreshing coffee, that awaits you, is all de- 
lightful; and if to this be added the happiness of an easy 

sofa, and a friend like my charming Mrs. S , to 

soothe you with an hour of Mozart, the most fastidious 
European might allow that such a day was worth waking 
for. 



211 



CHAPTER XXII 

Small Landed Proprietors — Slavery. 

I NOW, for the first time since I crossed the mountains, 
found myself sufficiently at leisure to look deliberately 
round, and mark the diiferent aspects of men and things in 
a region which, though bearing the same name, and calling .j 
itself the same land, was, in many respects, as different t| 
from the one I had left, as Amsterdam from St. Petersburg, j 
There every man was straining, and struggling, and striv- 
ing for himself (heaven knows !) Here every white man 
was waited upon, more or less, by a slave. There, the 
newly-cleared lands, rich with the vegetable manure accu- 
mulated for ages, demanded the slightest labour to return 
the richest produce; where the plough entered, crops the 
most abundant followed; but where it came not, no spot of 
native verdure, no native fruits, no native flowers cheered 
the eye; all was close, dark, stifling forest. Here the soil 
had long ago yielded its first fruits; much that had been 
cleared and cultivated for tobacco (the most exhausting of ; 
crops) by the English, required careful and laborious hus- 
bandry to produce any return; and much was left as sheep- 
walks. It was in these spots that the natural bounty of the 
soil and climate was displayed by the innumerable wild 
fruits and flowers which made every dingle and bushy dell 
seem a garden. 

On entering the cottages I found also a great difference 
in the manner of living. Here, indeed, there were few cot- 
tages without a slave, but there were fewer still that had 
their beefsteak and onions for breakfast, dinner, and sup- 
per. The herrings of the bountiful Potomac supply their i; 
place. These are excellent " relish," as they call it, when 

212 



OF THE AMERICANS 

salted^ and^ if I mistake not^ are sold at a dollar and a half 
per thousand. Whiskey, however, flows every where at the 
same fatally cheap rate of twenty cents (about one shilling) 
the gallon, and its hideous effects are visible on the coun- 
tenance of every man you meet. 

The class of people the most completely unlike any ex- 
isting in England, are those who, farming their own free- 
hold estates, and often possessing several slaves, yet live 
with as few of the refinements, and I think I may say, with 
as few of the comforts of life, as the very poorest English 
peasant. When in Maryland, I went into the houses of sev- 
eral of these small proprietors, and remained long enough 
and looked and listened sufficiently, to obtain a tolerably 
correct idea of their manner of living. y^ 

One of these families consisted of a young man, his wife, 
two children, a female slave, and two young lads, slaves 
also. The farm belonged to the wife, and, I was told, con- 
sisted of about three hundred acres of indifferent land, but 
all cleared. The house was built of wood, and looked as if 
the three slaves might have overturned it, had they pushed 
hard against the gable end. It contained one room, of 
about twelve feet square, and another adjoining it, hardly 
larger than a closet; this second chamber was the lodging- 
room of the white part of the family. Above these rooms 
was a loft, without windows, where I was told the " stay- 
ing company " who visited them, were lodged. Near this 
mansion v/as a "shanty," a black hole, without any window, 
which served as a kitchen and all other offices, and also as 
the lodging of the blacks. 

We were invited to take tea with this family, and readily 
consented to do so. The furniture of the room was one 
heavy huge table, and about six wooden chairs. When we 
arrived the lady was in rather a dusky dishabille, but she ve- 
hemently urged us to be seated, and then retired into the 

[ 213 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

closet-chamber above mentioned, whence she continued to 
address to us from behind the door all kinds of " genteel 
country visiting talk/' and at length emerged upon us in a 
smart new dress. 

Her female slave set out the great table, and placed upon 
it cups of the very coarsest blue ware, a little brown sugar 
in one and a tiny drop of milk in another, no butter, though 
the lady assured us she had a "deary " and two cows. In- 
stead of butter, she "hoped we would fix a little relish with 
our crackers," in ancient English, eat salt meat and dry 
biscuits. Such was the fare, and for guests that certainly 
were intended to be honoured. I could not help recalling 
the delicious repasts which I remembered to have enjoyed 
at little dairy farms in England, not 'possessed, but rented, 
and at high rents too ; where the clean, fresh-coloured, bus- 
tling mistress herself skimmed the delicious cream, herself 
spread the yellow butter on the delightful brown loaf, and 
placed her curds, and her junket, and all the delicate treas- 
ures of her dairy before us, and then, with hospitable pride, 
placed herself at her board, and added the more delicate 
** relish ** of good tea and good cream. I remembered all 
this, and did not think the difference atoned for, by the 
dignity of having my cup handed to me by a slave. The 
lady I now visited, however, greatly surpassed my quondam 
friends in the refinement of her conversation. She ambled 
through the whole time the visit lasted, in a sort of elegantly 
mincing familiar style of gossip, which, I think, she was 
imitating from some novel, for I was told that she was a 
great novel reader, and left all household occupations to be 
performed by her slaves. To say she addressed us in a tone 
of equality, will give no adequate idea of her manner ; I am 
persuaded that no misgiving on the subject ever entered 
her head. She told us that their estate was her divi-dend 
of her father's property. She had married a first cousin, 

214 



OF THE AMERICANS 

I who was as fine a gentleman as she was a lady, and as idle^ 
I preferring hunting (as they call shooting) to any other oc- 
cupation. The consequence was, that but a very small por- 
tion of the divi-dend was cultivated_, and their poverty was 
extreme. The slaves, particularly the lads, were consider- 
ably more than half naked, but the air of dignity with which, 
[in the midst of all this misery, the lanky lady said to one of 
the 3^oung negroes, 'Attend to your young master, Lycur- 
gus," must have been been heard to be conceived in the full 
extent of its mock heroic. 

I Another dwelling of one of these landed proprietors was 
a hovel as wretched as the one above described, but there 
was more industry within it. The gentleman, indeed, was 
himself one of the numerous tribe of regular whiskey drink- 
ers, and was rarely capable of any work; but he had a fam- 
ily of twelve children, who, with their skeleton mother, 
worked much harder than I ever saw negroes do. They 
were, accordingly, much less elegant and much less poor 
than the heiress ; yet they lived with no appearance of com- 
fort, and with, I believe, nothing beyond the necessaries of 
life. One proof of this was, that the worthless father would 
not suffer them to raise, even by their own labour, any gar- 
den vegetables, and they lived upon their fat pork, salt fish, 
and corn bread, summer and winter, without variation. 
This I found was frequently the case among the farmers. 
The luxury of whiskey is more appreciated by the men than 
all the green delicacies from the garden, and if all the ready 
money goes for that and their darling chewing tobacco, none 
can be spent by the wife for garden seeds ; and as far as my 
Qbservation extended, I never saw any American menage 
where the toast and no toast question would have been de- 
cided in favour of the lady. 

There are some small farmers who hold their lands as 
tenants, but these are by no means numerous; they do not 

215 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

pay their rent in money, but by making over a third of the 
produce to the owner; a mode of paying rent considerably ;| 
more advantageous to the tenant than the landlord ; but the |] 
difficulty of obtaining money in payment, excepting for 
mere retail articles, is very great in all American transac- 
tions. "I can pay in -pro-duce/' is the offer vrhich I was l| 
assured is constantly made on all occasions, and if rejected, j! 
" Then I guess we can't deal," is the usual rejoinder. This 
statement does not, of course, include the great merchants 
of great cities, but refers to the mass of the peojDle scattered ;, 
over the country ; it has, indeed, been my obj ect, in speaking | 
of the customs of the people, to give an idea of what they 
are generally. 

The effect produced upon English people by the sight of 
slavery in every direction is very new, and not very agree- 
able, and it is not the less painfully felt from hearing upon 
every breeze the mocking words, 'All men are born free 
and equal.** One must be in the heart of American slavery, 
fully to appreciate that wonderfully fine passage in Moore's 
Epistle to Lord Viscount Forbes, which describes perhaps 
more faithfully, as well as more powerfully, the political 
state of America, than any thing that has ever been written 
upon it. 

Oh ! Freedom, Freedom, how I hate thy cant ! 
Not eastern bombast, nor the savage rant 
Of purpled madmen, were they numbered all 
From Roman Nero, down to Russian Paul, 
Could grate upon my ear so mean, so base. 
As the rank jargon of that factious race. 
Who, poor of heart, and prodigal of words. 
Born to be slaves, and struggling to be lords. 
But pant for licence, while they spurn controul^ 
And shout for rights, with rapine in their soul 1 

216 



OF THE AMERICANS 

Who caii^ with patience, for a moment see 

The medley mass of pride and misery, 

Of whips and charters, manacles and rights. 

Of slaving blacks, and democratic whites. 

Of all the pyebald polity that reigns 

In free confusion o'er Colmnbia's plains? 

To think that man, thou just and gentle God! 

Should stand before thee with a tyrant's rod. 

O'er creatures like himself, with soul from thee. 

Yet dare to boast of perfect liberty ; 

Away, away, I'd rather hold my neck 

By doubtful tenure from a Sultan's beck. 

In climes where liberty has scarce been named. 

Nor any right, but that of ruling claimed. 

Than thus to live, where bastard freedom weaves 

Fler fustian flag in mockery o'er slaves ; 

Where (motley laws admitting no degree 

Betwixt the vilely slaved, and madly free) 

Alike the bondage and the licence suit. 

The brute made ruler, and the man made brute ! 

The condition of domestic slaves, however, does not gen- 
erally appear to be bad ; but the ugly feature is, that should 
it be so, they have no power to change it. I have seen much 
kind attention bestowed upon the health of slaves ; but it is 
on these occasions impossible to forget, that did this atten- 
tion fail, a valuable piece of property would be endangered. 
Unhappily the slaves, too, know this; and the consequence 
is, that real kindly feeling very rarely can exist between the 
parties. It is said that slaves born in a family are attached 
to the children of it, who have grown up with them. This 
may be the case where the petty acts of infant tyranny have 
not been sufficient to conquer the kindly feeling naturally 
produced by long and early association; and this sort of at- 

217 



DOMESTIC M^NNEES 

tachment may last as long as the slave can be kept in that 
state of profound ignorance which precludes reflection. 
The law of Virginia has taken care of this. The State leg- 
islators may truly be said to be *' wiser in their generation 
than the children of light/* and they ensure their safety by 
forbidding light to enter among them. By the law of Vir- 
ginia it is penal to teach any slave to read^ and it is penal 
to be aiding and abetting in the act of instructing them. 
This law speaks volumes. Domestic slaves are^ generally 
speaking, tolerably well fed, and decently clothed; and the 
mode in which they are lodged seems a matter of great in- 
difference to them. They are rarely exposed to the lash, 
and they are carefully nursed in sickness. These are the 
favourable features of their situation. The sad one is, that 
they may be sent to the south and sold. This is the dread 
of all the slaves north of Louisiana. The sugar plantations, 
and more than all, the rice grounds of Georgia and the Car- 
olinas, are the terror of American negroes; and well they 
may be, for they open an early grave to thousands; and to 
avoid loss, it is needful to make their previous labour pay 
their value. 

There is something in the system of breeding and rearing 
negroes in the Northern States, for the express purpose of 
sending them to be sold in the South, that strikes painfully 
against every feeling of justice, mercy, or common human- 
ity. During my residence in America I became perfectly 
persuaded that the state of a domestic slave in a gentleman's 
family was preferable to that of a hired American " help," 
both because they are more cared for and valued, and be- 
cause their condition being born with them, their spirits do 
not struggle against it with that pining discontent which 
seems the lot of all free servants in America. But the case 
is widely different with such as, in their own persons, or 
those of their children, *' loved in vain," are exposed to the 

218 



OP THE AMERICANS 

dreadful traffic above mentioned. In what is their condition 
better than that of the kidnapped negroes on the coast of 
Africa? Of the horror in which this enforced migration is 
held I had a strong proof during our stay in Virginia. The 
father of a young slave, who belonged to the lady with 
whom we boarded, was destined to this fate, and within an 
hour after it was made known to him, he sharpened the 
hatchet with which he had been felling timber, and with his 
right hand severed his left from the wrist. 

But this is a subject on which I do not mean to dilate; it 
has been lately treated most judiciously by a far abler 
hand.* Its effects on the moral feelings and external man- 
ners of the people are all I wish to observe upon, and these 
are unquestionably most injurious. The same man who 
beards his wealthier and more educated neighbour with the 
bullying boast, ** I'm as good as you," turns to his slave, 
and knocks him down, if the furrow he has ploughed, or 
the log he has felled, please not this stickler for equality. 
There is a glaring falsehood on the very surface of such a 
man's principles that is revolting. It is not among the 
higher classes that the possession of slaves produces the 
worst effects. Among the poorer class of landholders, who 
are often as profoundly ignorant as the negroes they own^ 
the effect of this plenary power over males and females is 
most demoralizing; and the kind of coarse, not to say 
brutal, authority which is exercised, furnishes the most dis- 
gusting moral spectacle I ever witnessed. In all ranks^ 
however, it appeared to me that the greatest and best feelings 
of the human heart were paralyzed by the relative positions 
of slave and owner. The characters, the hearts of children, 
are irretrievably injured by it. In Virginia we boarded for 
some time in a family consisting of a widow and her four 
daughters, and I there witnessed a scene strongly indicative 

* See Captain Hall's Travels in America. 

219 



DOMESTIC MANNEKS 



! 



of the eiFect I have mentioned. A young female slave, 
about eight years of age, had found on the shelf of a cup- I 
board a biscuit, temptingly buttered, of which she had 
eaten a considerable portion before she vras observed. The 
butter had been copiously sprinkled with arsenic for the de- 
struction of rats, and had been thus most incautiously 
placed by one of the young ladies of the family. As soon 
as the circumstance was known, the lady of the house came 
to consult me as to what had best be done for the poor child ; 
I immediately mixed a large cup of mustard and water (the 
most rapid of all emetics and got the little girl to swallow 
it. The desired effect was instantly produced, but the poor 
child, partly from nausea, and partly from the terror of 
hearing her death proclaimed by half a dozen voices round I 
her, trembled so violently that I thought she would fall. I 
sat down in the court where we were standing, and, as a 
matter of course, took the little sufferer in my lap, I ob- 
served a general titter among the white members of the fam- 
ily, while the black stood aloof, and looked stupefied. The 
youngest of the family, a little girl about the age of the 
young slave, after gazing at me for a few moments in utter 
astonishment, exclaimed, *' My ! if Mrs. Trollope has not 
taken her in her lap, and wiped her nasty mouth! Why I 
would not have touched her mouth for two hundred dol- 
lars \" 

The little slave was laid on a bed, and I returned to my, 
own apartments; some time afterwards I sent to enquire 
for her, and learnt that she was in great pain. I immediate- 
ly went myself to enquire farther, when another young lady 
of the family, the one by whose imprudence the accident 
had occurred, met my anxious enquiries with ill-suppressed 
mirth — told me they had sent for the doctor — and then 
burst into uncontrollable laughter. The idea of really sym- 
pathising in the sufferings of a slave appeared to them as 

220 



OF THE AMERICANS 

absurd as wee^oing over a calf that had been slaughtered by 
the butcher. The daughters of my hostess were as lovely as 
features and complexion could make them; but the neutral- 
izing effect of this total want of feeling upon youth and 
beauty, must be witnessed, to be conceived. 

There seems in general a strong feeling throughout 
America, that none of the negro race can be trusted; and as 
fear, according to their notions, is the only principle by 
[which a slave can be actuated, it is not wonderful if the im- 
[putation be just. But I am persuaded that were a different 
mode of moral treatment pursued, most important and bene- 
ficial consequences would result from it. Negroes are very 
sensible to kindness, and might, I think, be rendered more 
profitably obedient by the practice of it towards them, than 
by any other mode of discipline whatever. To emancipate 
them entirely throughout the Union cannot, I conceive, be 
thought of, consistently with the safety of the country; but 
were the possibility of amelioration taken into the consider- 
ation of the legislature, with all the wisdom, justice, and 
mercy, that could be brought to bear upon it, the negro pop- 
ulation of the Union might cease to be a terror, and their 
situation no longer be a subject either of indignation or of 
pity. 

I observed every where, throughout the slave states, that 
all articles which can be taken and consumed are constantly 
locked up, and in large families, where the extent of the es- 
tablishment multiplies the number of keys, these are depos- 
ited in a basket, and consigned to the care of a little negress, 
who is constantly seen following her mistress's steps with 
this basket on her arm, and this, not only that the keys may 
be always at hand, but because, should they be out of sight 
one moment, that moment would infallibly be employed for 
purposes of plunder. It seemed to me in this instance, as in 
many others, that the close personal attendance of these 

221 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

sable shadows, must be very annoying ; but whenever I men- 
tioned it, I was assured that no such feeling existed, and ' 
that use rendered them almost unconscious of their presence. 
I had, indeed, frequent opportunities of observing this 
habitual indifference to the presence of their slaves. They 
talk of them, of their condition, of their faculties, of their 
conduct, exactly as if they were incapable of hearing. I 
once saw a young lady, who, when seated at table between 
a male and a female, was induced by her modesty to intrude 
on the chair of her female neighbour to avoid the indelicacy 
of touching the elbow of a man, I once saw this very young 
lady lacing her stays with the most perfect composure be- 
fore a negro footman. A Virginian gentleman told me that 
ever since he had married, he had been accustomed to have 
a negro girl sleep in the same chamber with himself and his 
wife. I asked for what purpose this nocturnal attendance 
was necessary ? " Good heaven !" was the reply, " if 1 1' 
wanted a glass of water during the night, what would be- 
come of me?'* 



222 



CHAPTER XXIII 

Fruits and Flowers of Maryland and Virginia — 
Copper-head Snake — Insects — Elections. 

Our summer in Maryland, (1830,) was delightful. The 
thermometer stood at 94, but the heat was by no means so 
oppressive as what we had felt in the West. In no part of 
i North America are the natural productions of the soil more 
various, or more beautiful. Strawberries of the richest fla- 
vour sprung beneath our feet; and when these passed away, 
every grove, every lane, every field looked like a cherry 
j orchard, offering an inexhaustible profusion of fruit to all 
who would take the trouble to gather it. Then followed the 
peaches; every hedge-row was planted with them, and 
though the fruit did not equal in size or flavour those 
i ripened on our garden walls, we often found them good 
enough to afford a delicious refreshment on our long ram- 
bles. But it was the flowers, and the flowering shrubs that, 
beyond all else, rendered this region the most beautiful I had 
ijever seen (the Alleghany always excepted). No descrip- 
I tion can give an idea of the variety, the profusion, the lux- 
[ uriance of them. If I talk of wild roses, the English readei 
will fancy I mean the pale ephemeral blossoms of our bram- 
ble hedges ; but the wild roses of Maryland and Virginia 
ii might be the choicest favourites of the flower garden. They 
I are rarely very double, but the brilliant eye atones for this. 
I They are of all shades, from the deepest crimson to the ten- 
derest pink. The scent is rich and delicate ; in size they 
exceed any single roses I ever saw, often measuring above 
i[i four inches in diameter. The leaf greatly resembles that of 
[ the china rose ; it is large, dark, firm, and brilliant. The 

223 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

sweetbrier grows wild, and blossoms abundantly; both 
leaves and flowers are considerably larger than with us., 
The acacia, or as it is there called, the locust, blooms with 
great richness and profusion; I have gathered a branch less 
than a foot long, and counted twelve full bunches of flowers 
on it. The scent is equal to the orange-flower. The dog- 
wood is another of the splendid white blossoms that adorn 
the woods. Its lateral branches are flat, like a fan, and 
dotted all over with star-like blossoms, as large as those of 
the gum-cistus. Another pretty shrub, of smaller size, is 
the poison alder. It is well that its noxious qualities are 
very generally known, for it is most tempting to the eye by 
its delicate fringe-like bunches of white flowers. Even the 
touch of this shrub is poisonous, and produces violent swell- 
ing. The arbor judae is abundant in every wood, and its 
bright and delicate pink is the earliest harbinger of the 
American spring. Azaleas, white, yellow, and pink; kal- 
mias of every variety, the too sweet magnolia, and the 
stately rhododendron, all grow in wild abundance there. 
The plant known in England as the Virginia creeper, is 
often seen climbing to the top of the highest forest trees, 
and bearing a large trumpet-shaped blossom of a rich scar- 
let. The sassafras is a beautiful shrub, and I cannot 
imagine why it has not been naturalized in England, for it 
has every appearance of being extremely hardy. The 
leaves grow in tufts, and every tuft contains leaves of five 
or six different forms. The fruit is singularly beautiful; it 
resembles in form a small acorn, and is jet black; the cup 
and stem looking as if they were made of red coral. The 
graceful and fantastic grapevine is a feature of great 
beauty, and its wandering festoons bear no more resem- 
blance to our well-trained vines, than our stunted azaleas, 
and tiny magnolias, to their thriving American kindred. 
There is another charm that haunts the summer wan" 

224 



OP THE AMERICANS 

derer in America, and it is perhaps the only one found in 
greatest perfection in the West: but it is beautiful every 
where. In a bright day, during any of the summer months, 
your walk is through an atmosphere of butterflies, so gaudy 
in hue, and so varied in form, that I often thought they 
looked like flowers on the wing. Some of them are very 
large, measuring tliree or four inches across the wings; but 
many, and I think the most beautiful, are smaller than ours. 
Some have wings of the most dainty lavender colour; and 
bodies of black ; others are fawn and rose colour ; and others 
again are orange and bright blue. But pretty as they are, 
it is their number, even more than their beauty, that delights 
the eye. Their gay and noiseless movement as they glance 
through the air, crossing each other in chequered maze, ia 
very beautiful. The humming-bird is another pretty sum- 
mer toy; but they are not sufficiently numerous, nor do they 
live enough on the wing to render them so important a fea- 
ture in the transatlantic show, as the rainbow-tinted butter- 
flies. The fire-fly was a far more brilliant novelty. In 
moist situations, or before a storm, they are very numerous, 
and in the dark sultry evening of a burning day, when all 
employment was impossible, I have often found it a pastime 
to watch their glancing light, now here, now there; now 
seen, now gone; shooting past with the rapidity of light- 
ning, and looking like a shower of falling stars, blown about 
in the breeze of evening. 

! In one of our excursions we encountered and slew a 
copper-head snake. I escaped treading on it by about three 
inches. While we were contemplating our conquered foe, 
and doubting in our ignorance if he were indeed the deadly 
copper-head we had so often heard described, a farmer 
joined us, who, as soon as he cast his eyes on our victim, ex-* 
claimed, " My ! if you have not got a copper. That's right 

225 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

i 
down well done, they be darnation beasts." He told us that ' 
he had once seen a copper-head bite himself to death, from 
being teazed by a stick, while confined in a cage where he 
could find no other victim. We often heard terrible ac- 
counts of the number of these desperate reptiles to be found 
on the rocks near the great falls of the Potomac; but not 
even the terror these stories inspired could prevent our re-s 
peated visits to that sublime scene ; luckily our temerity was 
never punished by seeing any there. Lizards, long, large, 
and most hideously like a miniature crocodile, I frequently 
saw, gliding from the fissures of the rocks, and darting ^ 
again under shelter, perhaps beneath the very stone I was 
seated upon; but every one assured us they were harmless. 
Animal life is so infinitely abundant, and in forms so va- , 
rious, and so novel to European eyes, that it is absolutely j| 
necessary to divest oneself of all the petty terrors which the 
crawling, creeping, hopping, and buzzing tribes can inspire, 
before taking an American summer ramble. It is, I con- 
ceive, quite impossible for any description to convey an idea 
of the sounds which assail the ears from the time the short 
twilight begins, until the rising sun scatters the rear of 
darkness, and sends the winking choristers to rest. 

Be where you will (excepting in the large cities) the ap- 
palling note of the bull- frog will reach you, loud, deep, and 
hoarse, issuing from a thousand throats in ceaseless con- 
tinuity of croak. The tree-frog adds her chirping and al- 
most human voice; the kattiedid repeats her own name 
through the livelong night; the whole tribe of locusts chirp, 
chirrup, squeak, whiz, and whistle, without allowing one in- 
stant of interval to the weary ear; and when to this the 
mosquito adds her threatening hum, it is wonderful that 
any degree of fatigue can obtain for the listener the relief 
of sleep. In fact, it is only in ceasing to listen that this 
blessing can be found. I passed many feverish nights dur- 

226 



OF THE AMERICANS 

ing my first suiiiincr, literally in listening to this most as- 
tounding mixture of noises^ and it was only when they be- 
came too familiar to exeite attention, that I recovered my 
rest. 

I know not by what whimsical link of association the re- 
capitulation of this insect din suggests the recollection of 
other discords, at least as harsh, and much more trouble- 
some. 

Even in the retirement in which we passed this summer, 
we were not beyond reach of the election fever which is con- 
stantly raging through the land. Had America every at- 
traction under heaven that nature and social enjoyment can 
offer, this electioneering madness would make me fly it in 
disgust. It engrosses every conversation, it irritates every 
temper, it substitutes party spirit for personal esteem; and, 
in fact, vitiates the whole system of society. 

When a candidate for any office starts, his party endow 
him with every virtue, and with all the talents. They are all 
ready to peck out the eyes of those who oppose him, and in 
the warm and mettlesome south-western states, do literally 
often perform this operation : but as soon as he succeeds, his 
virtues and his talents vanish, and, excepting those holding 
office under his appointment, every man Jonathan of them 
sets off again full gallop to elect his successor. When I 
first arrived in America Mr. John Quincy Adams was Presi- 
dent, and it was impossible to doubt, even from the state- 
ment of his enemies, that he was every way calculated to 
do honour to the office. All I ever heard against him was, 
that " he was too much of a gentleman ;'* but a new candi- 
date must be set up, and Mr. Adams was out-voted for no 
other reason, that I could learn, but because it was " best 
to change." — " Jackson for ever !" was, therefore, screamed 
from the majority of mouths, both drunk and sober, till he 
was elected; but no sooner in his place, than the same cease- 

227 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

less operation went on again^ with ** Clay for ever '* for its 
war-whoop. 

I was one morning paying a visit, when a party of gentle- 
men arrived at the same house on horseback. The one 
whose air proclaimed him the chief of his party, left us not 
long in doubt as to his business, for he said, almost in 
entering, 

** Mr. P , I come to ask for your vote." 

" Who are you for, sir ?" was the reply. 

" Clay for ever!" the rejoinder; and the vote was prom- 
ised. ^ 

This gentleman was candidate for a place in the state'"^ 
representation, whose members have a vote in the presi-,^ 
dential election. ^ 

I was introduced to him as an English woman: he ad- 
dressed me with, " Well, madam, you see we do these things 
openly and above-board here; you mince such matters more, 
I expect." 

After his departure, his history and standing were dis- 
cussed. " Mr. M. is highly respectable, and of very good 
standing; there can be no doubt of his election if he is a 
thorough-going Clay-man," said my host. 

I asked what his station was. 

The lady of the house told me that his father had been a 
merchant, and when this future legislator was a young man, 
he had been sent by him to some port in the Mediterranean 
as his supercargo. The youth, being a free-born high- 
spirited youth, appropriated the proceeds to his own uses, 
traded with great success upon the fund thus obtained, and 
returned, after an absence of twelve years, a gentleman of 
fortune and excellent standing. I expressed some little dis- 
approbation of this proceeding, but was assured that Mr. 
M. was considered by every one as a very ** honourable 
man." 

228 



OF THE AMERICANS 

Were I to relate one-tenth part of the dishonest transac- 
tions recounted to me by Americans_, of their fellow-citizens 
and friends^ I am confident that no English reader would 
give me credit for veracity; it would, therefore, be very un- 
wise to repeat them, but I cannot refrain from expressing 
the opinion that nearly four years of attentive observation 
impressed on me, namely, that the moral sense is on every 
point blunter than with us. Make an American believe that 
his next-door neighbour is a very worthless fellow, and I 
dare say (if he were quite sure he could make nothing by 
him) he would drop the acquaintance ; but as to what consti- 
tutes a worthless fellow, people differ on the opposite sides 
of the Atlantic, almost by the whole decalogue. There is, 
as it appeared to me, an obtusity on all points of honourable 
feeling. 

"Cervantes laughed Spain's chivalry away," but he did 
not laugh away that better part of chivalry, so beautifully 
described by Burke as "the unbought grace of life, the 
cheap defence of nations, that chastity of honour, which 
feels a stain as a wound, which ennobles whatever it touches, 
and by which vice itself loses half its evil, by losing all its 
grossness." The better part of chivalry still mixes with 
gentle blood in every part of Europe, nor is it less fondly 
guarded than when sword and buckler aided its defence. 
Perhaps this unbought grace of life is not to be looked for 
where chivalry has never been. I certainly do not lament the 
decadence of knight errantry, nor wish to exchange the pro- 
tection of the laws for that of the doughtiest champion who 
ever set lance in rest; but I do, in truth, believe that this 
knightly sensitiveness of honourable feeling is the best anti- 
dote to the petty soul-degrading transactions of every-day 
life, and that the total want of it is one reason why this free- 
born race care so very little for the vulgar virtue called 
probity. 

229 



i 



CHAPTER XXIV 



Journey to Philadelphia — Chesapeake and Dela- 
ware Canal — City of Philadelphia — Miss 
Wrighfs Lecture 

In the latter part of August^ 1830, we paid a visit to Phila- 
delphia_, and, notwithstanding the season, we were so for- 
tunate as to have both bright and temperate weather for the [ 
expedition. The road from Washington to Baltimore, 
which was our first day's journey, is interesting in summer 
from the variety and luxuriance of the foliage which bor- ; 
ders great part of it. •HI 

We passed the night at Baltimore, and embarked next 
morning on board a steam-boat for Philadelphia. The seen- , 
ery of the Elk river, upon which you enter soon after leav- 
ing the port of Baltimore, is not beautiful. We embarked 
at six in the morning, and at twelve reached* the Chesapeake 
and Delaware canal; we then quitted the steam-boat, and 
walked two or three hundred yards to the canal, where we 
got on board a pretty little decked boat, sheltered by a neat i| 
awning, and drawn by four horses. This canal cuts across 
the state of Delaware, and connects the Chesapeake and Del- 
aware rivers: it has been a work of great expense, though 
the distance is not more than thirteen miles; for a consider- 
able part of this distance the cutting has been very deep, ! 
and the banks are in many parts thatched, to prevent their j 
crumbling. At the point where the cutting is deepest, a ' 
light bridge is thrown across, which, from its great height, 
forms a striking object to the travellers passing below it. 
Every boat that passes this canal pays a toll of twenty del- \ 
lars. 

230 



OF THE AMERICANS 

Nothing can be less interesting than that part of the state 
of Delaware through which this cut passes, the Mississippi 
hardly excepted. At one, we reached the Delaware river^ 
at a point nearly opposite Delaware Fort, which looks re- 
cently built, and is very handsome*. Here we again 
changed our vessel, and got on board another of their noble 
steam-boats; both these changes were made with the great- 
est regularity and dispatch. 

There is nothing remarkable in the scenery of the Dela- 
ware. The stream is wide and the banks are flat; a short 
ii distance before you reach Philadelphia two large buildings 
jlof singular appearance strike the eye. On enquiry I learnt 
[that they were erected for the purpose of sheltering two 
' ships of war. They are handsomely finished, with very neat 
roofs, and are ventilated by many windows. The expense 
j of these buildings must have been considerable, but as the 
\ construction of the vast machines they shelter was more so, 
it may be good economy. 

We reached Philadelphia at four o'clock in the afternoon. 
The approach to this city is not so striking as that to Balti- 
i more ; though much larger, it does not now show itself so 
I well ; it wants domes and columns ; it is, nevertheless, a 
beautiful city. Nothing can exceed its neatness ; the streetiS 
are well paved, the foot-way, as in all the old American 
cities, is of brick, like the old pantile walk at Tunbridge 
Wells. This is almost entirely sheltered from the sun by 
the awnings, which, in all the principal streets, are spread 
from the shop windows to the edge of the pavement. 

The city is built with extreme and almost wearisome regu- 
larity; the streets, which run north and south, are distin- 
guished by numbers, from one to — I know not how many, 
but I paid a visit in Twelfth Street; these are intersected 
at right angles by others, which are known by the names of 

* This fort was destroyed by fire a few montlis afterwards. 

231 



t^-' 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

various trees; Mulberry (more commonly called Arch- 
street), Chestnut, and Walnut, appear the most fashionable: 
in each of these there is a theatre. This mode of distin- 
guishing the streets is commodious to strangers, from the 
facility it gives of finding out whereabouts you are; if you 
ask for the United States Bank, you are told it is in Chest- 
nut, between Third and Fourth, and as the streets are all 
divided from each other by equal distances, of about three 
hundred feet, you are sure of not missing your mark. 
There are many handsome houses, but none that are very 
splendid; they are generally of brick, and those of the bet- 
ter order have white marble steps, and some few, door- 
frames of the same beautiful material; but, on the whole, 
there is less display of it in the private dwellings than at 
Baltimore. 

The Americans all seem greatly to admire this city, and 
to give it the preference in point of beauty to all others in 
the Union, but I do not agree with them. There are some 
very handsome buildings, but none of them so placed as to 
produce a striking effect, as is the case both with the Capitol 
and the President's house, at Washington. Notwithstand- 
ing these fine buildings, one or more of which are to be 
found in all the principal streets, the coup d'ceil is every 
where the same. There is no Place de Louis Quinze or 
Carrousel, no Regent Street or Green Park, to make one ex- 
claim "how beautiful!'* all is even, straight, uniform, and 
uninteresting. 

There is one spot, however, about a mile from the town, 
which presents a lovely scene. The water-works of Phila- 
delphia have not yet perhaps as wide-extended fame as 
those of Marley, but they are not less deserving it. At a 
most beautiful point of the Schuylkill River, the water has 
been forced up into a magnificent reservoir, ample and ele- 
vated enough to send it through the whole city. The vast 

232 



OP THE AMERICANS 

yet simple machinery by which this is achieved is open to 
the public, who resort in such numbers to see it_, that several 
evening stages run from Philadelphia to Fair Mount for 
their accommodation. But interesting and curious as this 
machinery is. Fair INIount would not be so attractive had it 
not something else to offer. It is, in truth, one of the very 
prettiest sj^ots the eye can look upon. A broad wear is 
thrown across the Schuylkill, which produces the sound and 
look of a cascade. On the farther side of the river is a gen- 
tleman's seat, the beautiful lawns of which sloi3e to the 
water's edge, and groups of weeping-willows and other trees 
throw their shadows on the stream. The works themselves 
are enclosed in a simple but very handsome building of 
freestone, which has an extended front opening upon a ter- 
race, which overhangs the river: behind the building, and 
divided from it only by a lawn, rises a lofty wall of solid 
lime-stone rock, which has, at one or two points, been cut 
into, for the passage of the water into the noble reservoir 
above. From the crevices of this rock the catalpa was every 
where pushing forth, covered with its beautiful blossoms. 
Beneath one of these trees an artificial opening in the rock 
gives passage to a stream of water, clear and bright as crys- 
tal, which is received in a stone basin of simple workman- 
ship, having a cup for the service of the thirsty traveller. 
At another point, a portion of the water, in its upward way 
to the reservoir, is permitted to spring forth in a perpetual 
jet d'eau, that returns in a silver shower upon the head of a 
marble naiad of snowy whiteness. The statue is not the 
work of Phidias; but its dark, rocky background, the 
1 flowery catalpas which shadow it, and the bright shower 
through which it shows itself, altogether make the scene one 
j of singular beauty ; add to which, the evening on which I 
saw it was very sultry, and the contrast of this cool spot to 

2SS 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

all besides certainly enhanced its attractions; it was impos- 
sible not to envy the nymph her eternal shower-bath. 

On returning from this excursion we saw handbills in 
all parts of the city^ announcing that Miss Wright was on 
that evening to deliver her parting address to the citizens 
of Philadelphia, at the Arch Street theatre, previous to her 
departure for Europe. I immediately determined to hear 
her, and did so, though not without some difficulty, from the 
crowds who went thither with the same intention. The 
house, which is a very pretty one, was filled in every part, 
including the stage, with a well-dressed and most attentive 
audience. There was a larger proportion of ladies present 
than I ever saw on any other occasion in an American the- 
atre. One reason for this might be, perhaps, that they were 
admitted gratis. 

Miss Wright came on the stage surrounded by a body- 
guard of Quaker ladies, in the full costume of their sect. 
She was, as she always is, startling in her theories, but 
powerfully eloquent, and, on the whole, was much ap- 
plauded, though one passage produced great emotion, and 
some hissing. She stated broadly, on the authority of Jef- 
ferson, furnished by his posthumous works, that "Washing- 
ton was not a Christian." One voice from the crowded pit 
exclaimed, in an accent of indignation, ''Washington was a 
Christian;" but it was evident that the majority of the audi- 
ence considered Mr. Jefferson's assertion as a compliment 
to the country's idol, for the hissing was soon triumphantly 
clapped down. General Washington himself, however^ 
gives a somewhat different account of his own principles; 
for, in his admirable farewell address on declining a re- 
election to the Presidency, I find the following passage : 

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to polit- 
ical prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable sup- 
ports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriot- 

2S4 



OF THE AMERICANS 

ism who would la])our to subvert these great pillars of 
human happiness, tiicse firmest props of the destinies of 
men and citizens. A volume could not trace all their con- 
nexions with private and public felicity. And let us with 
caution indulge the supposition that morality can be main- 
tained without religion; reason and experience both forbid 
as to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion 
of religious principle." 

Whether Mr. Jefferson or himself knew best what his 
principles were, I will not decide; but, at least, it appears 
fair, when repeating one statement, to add the other also. 



235 



CHAPTER XXV 

Washington Square — American Beauty — Gallery 
of Fine Arts — Antiques — Theatres — Museum 

Our mornings were spent, as all travellers' mornings must 
be_, in asking questions, and in seeing all that the answers 
told us it was necessary to see. Perhaps this can be done in i* 
no city with more facility than in Philadelphia; you have*!] 
nothing to do but to walk up one straight street, and down 
another, till all the parallelograms have been threaded. In 
doing this you will see many things worth looking at. The 
United States, and Pennsylvania banks, are the most strik- | 
ing buildings, and are both extremely handsome, being of 
white marble, and built after Grecian models. The State i 
House has nothing externally to recommend it, but the 
room shown as that in which the declaration of independence 
was signed, and in vrhich the estimable Lafayette was re- 
ceived, half a century after he had shed his noble blood 
in aiding to obtain it, is an interesting spot. At one end 
of this room is a statue in wood of General Washington; j 
on its base is the following inscription: — 

First in Peace, 

First in War, j 

and : 

First in the hearts of his Countrymen. 

There is a very pretty enclosure before the Walnut Street 
entrance to the State House, with good well-kept gravel ■ 
walks, and man^ of their beautiful flowering trees. It is laid 
down in grass, not in turf ; that, indeed, is a luxury I never 
saw in America. Near this enclosure is another of much 
the same description, called Washington Square, Here 

236 



OF THE AMERICANS 

here was an excellent crop of clover; but as the trees arc 
lumerous, and highly beautiful, and several commodious 
eats are placed beneath their shade, it is, spite of the long 
jrass, a very agreeable retreat from heat and dust. It was 
arely, however, that I saw any of these seats occupied; the 
iimericans have either no leisure, or no inclination for those 
iioments of delassement that all other people, I believe, 
adulge in. Even their drams, so universally taken by rich 
,nd poor, are swallowed standing, and, excepting at church, 
hey never Have the air of leisure or repose. This pretty 
Vashington Square is surrounded by houses on three sides, 
»ut (lasso!) has a prison on the fourth; it is, nevertheless, 
he nearest approach to a London square that is to be found 
a Philadelphia. 

j- One evening, while the rest of my party went to visit 
ome objects which I had before seen, I agreed to await 
heir return in this square, and sat down under a magnificent 
atalpa, which threw its fragrant blossoms in all direc- 
ions ; the other end of the bench was occupied by a young 
ady, who was employed in watching the gambols of a little 
)oy. There was something in her manner of looking at 
iae, and exchanging a smile when her young charge per- 
ormed some extraordinary feat of activity on the grass, 
hat persuaded me she was not an American. I do not 
emember who spoke first, but we were presently in a full 
low of conversation. She spoke English with elegant cor- 
ectness, but she was a German, and with an ardour of 
'eeling which gave her a decidedly foreign air in Phila- 
lelphia, she talked to me of her country, of all she had 
eft, and of all she had found, or rather of all she had not 
'ound, for thus ran her lament: — 

"They do not love music. Oh no! and they never amuse 
hemselves — no; and their hearts are not warm, at least 
liey seem not so to strangers; and they have no ease, no 

237 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

forgetfulness of business and of care — no^ not for a mo 
ment. But I will not stay long, I think, for I should no 
live." 

She told me that she had a brother settled there as i 
merchant, and that she had passed a year with him ; but sh< 
was hoping soon to return to her father land. 

I never so strongly felt the truth of the remark, tha 
expression is the soul of beauty, as in looking at, and listen 
ing to this young German. She was any thing but hand 
some ; it is true she had large eyes, full of gentle expression 
but every feature was irregular ; but, oh ! the charm of tha 
smile, of that look of deep feeling which animated everj 
feature when she spoke of her own Germany! The ton( 
of her voice, the slight and graceful action which accom- 
panied her words, all struck me as so attractive, that th( 
half hour I passed with her was continually recurring t( 
my memory. I had often taxed myself with feeling some- 
thing like prejudice against the beautiful American women 
but this half hour set my conscience at rest; it is not preju 
dice which causes one to feel that regularity of features h 
insufficient to interest, or even to please, beyond the firsi 
glance. I certainly believe the women of America to b( 
the handsomest in the world, but as surely do I believe thai 
they are the least attractive. 

********* 

We visited the nineteenth annual exhibition of the Penn! 
sylvania academy of the fine arts; 431 was the number oi 
objects exhibited, which were so arranged as to fill threcj 
tolerably large rooms, and one smaller called the directors 
room. There were among the number about thirty engrav 
ings, and a much larger proportion of water-colour draw 
ings; about seventy had the P. A. (Pennsylvania Academi 
cian) annexed to the name of the artist. V 

The principal historical composition was a large scriptutc 

238 



P OP THE AMERICANS 

piece by Mr. Washington Alston. This gentleman is 
spoken of as an artist of great merit, and I was told that 
his manner was much improved since this picture was 
painted (it bears date, 1813). I believe it was for this 
picture Mr. Alston received a prize at the British Gallery. 
There was a portrait of a lady, which, in the catalogue, 
is designated as "the White Plume," which had the reputa- 
tion of being the most admired in the collection, and the 
artist, Mr. Ingham, is said to rank highest among the por- 
trait-painters of America. This picture is of very high 
finish, particularly the drapery, which is most elaborately 
worked, even to the pile of the velvet; the management of 
the light is much in the manner of Good; but the drawing 
is very defective, and the contour, though the face is a 
lovely one, hard and unfleshy. From all the conversations 

Ion painting which I listened to in America, I found that 
the finish of drapery was considered as the highest excel- 
lence, and next to this, the resemblance in a portrait; I do 
not remember ever to have heard the words drawing or 

\ composition used in any conversation on the subject. 

I One of the rooms of this academy has inscribed over its 
door, 

ANTIQUE STATUE GALLERY. 

The door was open, but just within it was a screen, which 
; prevented any ob j ects in the room being seen from without. 

Upon my pausing to read this inscription, an old woman 
I who appeared to officiate as guardian of the gallery, bustled 
I'up, and addressing me with an air of much mystery, said, 

"Now, ma'am, now: this is just the time for you — nobody 

can see you — make haste." 

i I stared at her with unfeigned surprise, and disengaging 
I my arm, which she had taken apparently to hasten my 

movements, I very gravely asked her meaning. 

"Only, ma'am, that the ladies like to go into that room 

239 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

by themselves^ when there be no gentlemen watching them." Ij 
On entering this mysterious apartment, the first thing I ;* 
remarked,, was a written paper, deprecating the disgusting 
depravity which had led some of the visitors to mark and 
deface the casts in a most indecent and shameless manner. 
This abomination has unquestionably been occasioned by 
the coarse-minded custom which sends alternate groups of! 
males and females into the room. Were the antique gallery I 
thrown open to mixed parties of ladies and gentlemen, it 
would soon cease. Till America has reached the degree ofj 
refinement which permits of this, the antique casts should;; 
not be exhibited to ladies at all. I never felt my delicacy ;; 
shocked at the Louvre, but I was strongly tempted to re- rj 
sent as an affront the hint I received, that I might steal ajj 
glance at what was deemed indecent. Perhaps the arrange- j| 
ments for the exhibition of this room, the feelings which ij 
have led to them, and the result they have produced, fur- |{ 
nish as good a specimen of the kind of delicacy on which I 
the Americans pride themselves, and of the peculiarities 
arising from it, as can be found. The room contains about 
fifty casts, chiefly from the antique. 

In the directors' room I was amused at the means which 
a poet had hit upon for advertising his works, or rather his 
WORK, and not less at the elaborate notice of it. His por- 
trait was suspended there, and attached to the frame was 
a paper inscribed thus : — 

*TORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR 
of 
The Fredoniad, or Independence Preserved; a political, 
naval, and military poem, on the late war of 1812, 
in forty cantos; the whole compressed in 
four volumes; each volume averag- 
ing more than 305 pages. 
By Richard Emmons, 
M. D." 

****** 4f * 

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OP THE AMERICANS 

I went to the Chestnut Street Theatre to see Mr. Booth, 
formerly of Drury Lane, in the character of Lear, and a 
Mrs. Duff in Cordelia ; but I have seen too many Lears and 
Cordelias to be easily pleased; I thought the whole per- 
formance very bad. The theatre is of excellently moderate 
dimensions, and prettily decorated. It was not the fash- 
ionable season for the theatres, which I presume must 
account for the appearance of the company in the boxes, 
v/hich was any thing but elegant; nor was there more 
decorum of demeanour than I had observed elsewhere; I 
saw one man in the lower tier of boxes deliberately take off 
his coat that he might enjoy the refreshing coolness of 
shirt sleeves; all the gentlemen wore their hats, and the 
spitting was unceasing. 

On another evening we went to the Walnut Street The- 
atre; the chief attraction of the night was furnished by the 
performance of a young man who had been previously 
exhibited as "a living skeleton.** He played the part of 
Jeremiah Thin, and certainly looked the part well; and 
here I think must end my praise of the evening's per- 
formances. 

The great and most striking contrast between this city 
and those of Europe, is perceived after sun-set; scarcely a 
sound is heard; hardly a voice or a wheel breaks the still- 
ness. The streets are entirely dark, except where a stray 
lamp marks an hotel or the like; no shops are open, but 
those of the apothecary, and here and there a cook's shop; 
scarcely a step is heard, and for a note of music, or the 
sound of mirth, I listened in vain. In leaving the theatre, 
which I always did before the afterpiece, I saw not a single 
carriage; the night of Miss Wright's lecture, when I stayed 
to the end, I saw one. This darkness, this stillness, is so 
great, that I almost felt it awful. As we walked home one 
fine moonlight evening from the Chestnut Street house, we 
stopped a moment before the United States Bank, to look 
at its white marble columns by the subdued light, said to 

241 



DOMESTIC MANNEKS 

be so advantageous to them; the building did^ indeed, look 
beautiful; the incongruous objects around were hardly 
visible, while the brilliant white of the building, which by 
day-light is dazzling, was mellowed into fainter light and 
softer shadow. 

While pausing before this modern temple of Theseus, 
we remarked that we alone seemed alive in this great city; 
it was ten o'clock, and a most lovely cool evening, after a 
burning day, yet all was silence. Regent Street, Bond 
Street, with their blaze of gas-light bijouterie, and still ;^ 
more the Italian Boulevard of Paris, rose in strong con- I 
trast on the memory; the light, which outshines that of day | 
— the gay, graceful, laughing throng — the elegant saloons ^ 
of Tortoni, with all their varieties of cooling nectar — were 
all remembered. Is it an European prejudice to deem that 
the solitary dram swallowed by the gentlemen on quitting 
an American theatre indicates a lower and more vicious 
state of manners, than do the ices so sedulously offered to 
the ladies on leaving a French one? 

The museum contains a good collection of objects illus- 
trative of natural history, and some very interesting speci- 
mens of Indian antiquities; both here and at Cincinnati I 
saw so many things resembling Egyptian relics, that I 
should like to see the origin of the Indian nations inquired 
into more accurately than has yet been done. 

The shops, of which there appeared to me to be an un- 
usually large proportion, are very handsome; many of 
them in a style of European elegance. Lottery offices 
abound, and that species of gambling is carried to a great 
extent. I saw fewer carriages in Philadelphia than either 
at Baltimore or Washington, but in the winter I was told 
they were more numerous. 

Many of the best families had left the city for different 

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watering-places, and others were daily following. Long 
Branch is a fashionable bathing place on the Jersey shore, 
to which many resort, both from this place and from New 
York; the description given of the manner of bathing ap- 
peared to me rather extraordinary, but the account was con- 
firmed by so many different people, that I could not doubt 
its correctness. The shore, it seems, is too bold to admit 
of bathing machines, and the ladies have, therefore, re- 
course to another mode for ensuring the enjoyment of a 
sea-bath with safety. The accommodation at Long Branch 
is almost entirely at large boarding-houses, where all the 
company live at a table d'hote. It is customary for ladies 
on arriving to look round among the married gentlemen, 
the first time they meet at table, and to select the one her 
fancy leads her to prefer as a protector in her purposed 
visits to the realms of Neptune; she makes her request, 
which is always graciously received, that he would lead her 
to taste the briny wave; but another fair one must select 
the same protector, else the arrangement cannot be com- 
plete, as custom does not authorise tete a tete immersion. 



243 



CHAPTER XXVI 

Quakers — Presbyterians — Itinerant 3Iethodist 
Preacher — Market — Influence of Females in so- 
ciety 

I HAD never chanced^ among all my wanderings, to enter a 
Quaker meeting-house; and as I thought I could no where 
make my first visit better than at Philadelphia, I went 
under the protection of a Quaker lady to the principal 
orthodox meeting of the city. The building is large, but 
perfectly without ornament; the men and women are sepa- 
rated by a rail which divides it into two equal parts; the 
meeting was very full on both sides, and the atmosphere 
almost intolerably hot. As they glided in at their different 
doors, I spied many pretty faces peeping from the prim 
head gear of the females, and as the broad-brimmed males 
sat down, the welcome Parney supposes prepared for them 
in heaven, recurred to me, 

"Entre done, et garde ton chapeau." 

The little bonnets and the large hats were ranged in long 
rows, and their stillness was for a long time so unbroken, 
that I could hardly persuade myself the figures they sur- 
mounted were alive. At length a grave square man arose, 
laid aside his ample beaver, and after another solemn in- 
terval of silence, he gave a deep groan, and as it were by 
the same effort, uttered, "Keep thy foot.'* Again he was 
silent for many minutes, and then he continued for more 
than an hour to put forth one word at a time, but at such 
an interval from each other that I found it quite impossible 
to follow his meaning, if, indeed, he had any. My Quaker 

244 



OF THE AMERICANS 

friend told me she knew not who he was, and that she re- 
gretted I had heard so poor a preacher. After he had con- 
cluded, a gentleman-like old man (a physician by profes- 
sion) arose^ and delivered a few moral sentences in an 
agreeable manner; soon after he had sat down, the whole 
congregation rose, I know not at what signal, and made 
their exit. It is a singular kind of worship, if worship it 
may be called, where all prayer is forbidden; yet it ap- 
peared to me, in its decent quietness, infinitely preferable to 
what I had witnessed at the Presbyterian and Methodist 
meeting-houses. A great schism had lately taken place 
among the Quakers of Philadelphia; many objecting to 
the over-strict discipline of the orthodox. Among the 
seceders there are again various shades of difference; I 
met many who called themselves Unitarian Quakers, others 
were Hicksites, and others again, though still wearing the 
Quaker habit, were said to be Deists. 

We visited many churches and chapels in the city, but 
none that would elsewhere be called handsome, either in- 
ternally or externally. 

I went one evening, not a Sunday, with a party of ladies 
to see a Presbyterian minister inducted. The ceremony 
was woefully long, and the charge to the young man 
awfully impossible to obey, at least if he were a man, like 
unto other men. It was matter of astonishment to me to 
observe the deep attention, and the unwearied patience with 
which some hundreds of beautiful young girls who were 
assembled there, (not to mention the old ladies,) listened 
to the whole of this tedious ceremony; surely there is no 
country in the world where religion makes so large a part of 
the amusement and occupation of the ladies. Spain, in its 
most catholic days, could not exceed it: besides, in spite of 
the gloomy horrors of the Inquisition, gaiety and amusement 

245 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

were not there offered as a sacrifice by the young and 
lovely. 

The religious severity of Philadelphian manners is in 
nothing more conspicuous than in the number of chains 
thrown across the streets on a Sunday to prevent horses and 
carriages from passing. Surely the Jews could not exceed 
this country in their external observances. What the gen- 
tlemen of Philadelphia do with themselves on a Sunday, I 
will not pretend to guess_, but the prodigious majority of 
females in the churches is very remarkable. Although a 
large proportion of the population of this city are Quakers, 
the same extraordinary variety of faith exists here, as 
everywhere else in the Union, and the priests have, in some 
circles, the same unbounded influence which has been men- 
tioned elsewhere. 

One history reached me, which gave a terrible picture of 
the effect this power may produce; it was related to me 
by my mantua-maker ; a young woman highly estimable as 
a wife and mother, and on whose veracity I perfectly rely. 
She told me that her father was a widower, and lived with 
his family of three daughters at Philadelphia. A short 
time before she married, an itinerant preacher came to 
the city, who contrived to obtain an intimate footing in many 
respectable families. Her father's was one of these, and 
his influence and authority were great with all the sisters, 
but particularly with the youngest. The young girl's feel- 
ings for him seem to have been a curious mixture of spiritual 
awe and earthly affection. When she received a hint from 
her sisters that she ought not to give him too much encour- 
agement till he spoke out, she showed as much holy re- 
sentment as if they had told her not to say her prayers too 
devoutly. At length the father remarked the sort of covert 
passion that gleamed through the eyes of his godly visitor, 
and he saw too, the pallid, anxious look which had settled 

246 



OP THE AMERICANS 

on the young brow of his daughter; either this, or some 
rumours he had heard abroad, or both together, led him to 
forbid this man his house. The three girls were present 
when he did so, and all uttered a deprecating "Oh father!" 
but the old man added stoutly, "If you show yourself here 
again, reverend sir, I will not only teach you the way out 
of my house, but out of the city also." The preacher with- 
drew, and was never heard of in Philadelphia afterwards; 
but when a few months had passed, strange whispers began 
to creep through the circle which had received and hon- 
oured him, and, in due course of time, no less than seven 
unfortunate girls produced living proofs of the wisdom 
of my informant's worthy father. In defence of this 
dreadful story I can only make the often repeated quota- 
tion, "I tell the tale as 'twas told to me;" but, in all sin- 
cerity I must add, that I have no doubt of its truth. 
********* 

I was particularly requested to visit the market of Phila- 
delphia, at the hour when it presented the busiest scene; 
I did so, and thought few cities had any thing to show 
better worth looking at; it is, indeed, the very perfection 
of a market, the beau ideal of a notable housewife, who 
would confide to no deputy the important office of caterer. 
The neatness, freshness, and entire absence of every thing 
disagreeable to sight or smell, must be witnessed to be 
believed. The stalls were spread with snow-white napkins ; 
flowers and fruit, if not quite of Paris or London perfec- 
tion, yet bright, fresh, and fragrant; with excellent vege- 
tables in the greatest variety and abundance, were all so 
delightfully exhibited, that objects less pleasing were over- 
looked and forgotten. The d^iry, the poultry-yard, the 
forest, the river, and the ocean, all contributed their spoil; 
in short, for the first time in my life, I thought a market a 
beautiful object. The prices of most articles were, as 

247 



DOMESTICD MANNERS 

nearly as I could calculate between dollars and francs^ 
about the same as at Paris ; certainly much cheaper than in 
London, but much dearer than at Exeter. 

My letters of introduction brought me acquainted with 
several amiable and interesting people. There is something 
in the tone of manners at Philadelphia that I liked; it 
appeared to me that there was less affectation of ton there 
than elsewhere. There is a quietness, a composure in a 
Philadelphian drawing-room, that is quite characteristic of 
a city founded by William Penn. The dress of the ladies, 
even those who are not Quakers, partakes of this; they : 
are most elegantly neat, and there was a delicacy and good iii 
taste in the dress of the young ladies that might serve as a J 
model to the whole Union. There can hardly be a stronger I 
contrast in the style of dress between any two cities than ij 
may be remarked between Baltimore and Philadelphia; both ! 
are costly, but the former is distinguished by gaudy splen- | 
dour, the latter by elegant simplicity. : 

It is said that this city has many gentlemen distinguished 'I 
by their scientific pursuits; I conversed with several well ; 
informed and intelligent men, but there is a cold dryness of 
manner and an apparent want of interest in the subjects ; 
they discuss, that, to my mind, robs conversation of all its 
charm. On one occasion I heard the character and situa- 
tion of an illustrious officer discussed, who had served with 
renown under Napoleon, and whose high character might , 
have obtained him favour under the Bourbons, could he have 
abandoned the principles which led him to dislike their ' 
government. This distinguished man had retreated to 
America after the death of his master, and was endeavour- 
ing to establish a sort of Polytechnic academy at New 
York: in speaking of him, I observed, that his devotion to 
the cause of freedom must prove a strong recommendation 
in the United States. "Not the least in the world, madam,'* 

248 



OF THE AMERICANS 

answered a gentleman who ranked deservedly high among 
the literati of tlie city^ "it might avail him much in England, 
perhaps, but here we are perfectly indifferent as to what 
peoples' principles may be." 

This I believe to be exactly true, though I never before 
heard it avowed as a national feature. 

The want of warmth, of interest, of feeling, upon all 
subjects which do not immediately touch their own con- 
cerns, is universal, and has a most paralyzing effect upon 
conversation. All the enthusiasm of America is concen- 
trated to the one point of her own emancipation and inde- 
pendence; on this point nothing can exceed the warmth of 
her feelings. She may, I think, be compared to a young 
bride, a sort of Mrs. Major Waddle; her independence is 
to her as a newly-won bridegroom; for him alone she has 
eyes, ears, or heart; — the honeymoon is not over yet; — ■ 
when it is, America will, perhaps, learn more coquetry, and 
know better how to faire Vaimable to other nations. 

I conceive that no place in the known world can furnish 
so striking a proof of the immense value of literary 
habits as the United States, not only in enlarging the mind, 
but what is of infinitely more importance, in purifying the 
manners. During my abode in the country I not only 
never met a literary man who was a tobacco chewer or a 
whiskey drinker, but I never met any who were not, that 
had escaped these degrading habits. On the women, the 
influence is, if possible, still more important; unfortunately, 
the instances are rare, but they are to be found. One ad- 
mirable example occurs in the person of a young lady of 
Cincinnati: surrounded by a society totally incapable of 
appreciating, or even of comprehending her, she holds 
a place among it, as simply and unaffectedly as if of the 
same species; young, beautiful, and gifted by nature with 
a mind singularly acute and discriminating, she has happily 

249 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

found such opportunities of cultivation as might distinguish 
her in any country ; it is^ indeed^ that best of all cultivation 
which is only to be found in domestic habits of literature, 
and in that hourly education which the daughter of a man 
of letters receives when she is made the companion and 
friend of her father. This young lady is the more ad- 
mirable as she contrives to unite all the multifarious duties 
which usually devolve upon American ladies, with her intel- 
lectual pursuits. The companion and efficient assistant of 
her father's literary labours, the active aid in all the house- 
hold cares of her mother, the tender nurse of a delicate 
infant sister, the skilful artificer of her own always elegant 
wardrobe, ever at leisure, and ever prepared to receive with 
the sweetest cheerfulness her numerous acquaintance, the 
most animated in conversation, the most indefatigable in 
occupation, it was impossible to know her, and study her 
character, without feeling that such women were "the glory 
of all lands," and, could the race be multiplied, would 
speedily become the reformers of all the grossness and igno- 
rance that now degrade her own. Is it to be imagined, that 
if fifty modifications of this charming young woman were 
to be met at a party, the men would dare to enter it reeking 
with whiskey, their lips blackened with tobacco, and con- 
vinced, to the very centre of their hearts and souls, that 
women were made for no other purpose than to fabricate 
sweetmeats and gingerbread, construct shirts, darn stock- 
ings, and become mothers of possible presidents ? Assured- 
ly not. Should the women of America ever discover what 
their power might be, and compare it with what it is, much 
improvement might be hoped for. Wliile at Philadelphia, 
among the handsomest, the wealthiest, and the most dis- 
tinguished of the land, their comparative influence in society, 
with that possessed in Europe by females holding the same 
station, occurred forcibly to my mind. 

250 



OF THE AMERICANS 

Let me be permitted to describe the day of a Philadelphia 
lady of the first class,, and the inference I would draw from 
it will be better understood. 

It may be said that the most important feature in a 
woman's history is her maternity. It is so ; but the obj ect of 
the present observation is the social, and not the domestic 
influence of woman. 

This lady shall be the wife of a senator and a lawyer in 
the highest repute and practice. She has a very hand- 
some house, with white marble steps and door-posts, and a 
delicate silver knocker and door-handle; she has very hand- 
some drawing-rooms, (very handsomely furnished, there 
is a side-board in one of them, but it is very handsome, and 
has very handsome decanters and cut glass water-jugs upon 
it;) she has a very handsome carriage, and a very handsome 
free black coachman; she is always very handsomely 
dressed; and, moreover, she is very handsome herself. 

She rises, and her first hour is spent in the scrupulously 
nice arrangement of her dress; she descends to her parlour 
neat, stiff, and silent; her breakfast is brought in by her 
free black footman; she eats her fried ham and her salt 
fish, and drinks her coffee in silence, while her husband 
reads one newspaper, and puts another under his elbow; 
and then, perhaps, she washes the cups and saucers. Her 
carriage is ordered at eleven ; till that hour she is employed 
in the pastry-room, her snow-white apron protecting her 
mouse-coloured silk. Twenty minutes before her carriage 
should appear, she retires to her chamber, as she calls it, 
shakes, and folds up her still snow-white apron, smoothes 
her rich dress, and with nice care, sets on her elegant bon- 
net, and all the handsome et cetera; then walks down stairs, 
just at the moment that her free black coachman announces 
to her free black footman that the carriage waits. She steps 
into it, and gives the word, "Drive to the Dorcas society." 

251 



DOMESTIC MANNEES 

Her footman stays at home to clean the knives, but 
her coachman can trust his horses while he opens the car- 
riage door, and his lady not being accustomed to a hand or 
an arm, gets out very safely without, though one of her 
own is occupied by a work-basket, and the other by a large 
roll of all those indescribable matters which ladies take 
as offerings to Dorcas societies. She enters the parlour 
appropriated for the meeting, and finds seven other ladies, 
very like herself, and takes her place among them; she 
presents her contribution, which is accepted with a gentle 
circular smile, and her parings of broad cloth, her ends of 
ribbon, her gilt paper, and her minikin pins, are added 
to the parings of broad cloth, the ends of ribbon, the gilt 
paper, and the minikin pins with which the table is already 
covered; she also produces from her basket three ready- 
made pincushions, four ink-wipers, seven paper matches, 
and a paste-board watch-case; these are welcomed with 
acclamations, and the youngest lady present deposits them 
carefully on shelves, amid a prodigious quantity of similar 
articles. She then produces her thimble, and asks for work; 
it is presented to her, and the eight ladies all stitch together 
for some hours. Their talk is of priests and of missions; 
of the profits of their last sale, of their hopes from the 
next; of the doubt whether young Mr. This, or young Mr. 
That should receive the fruits of it to fit him out for Libe- 
ria; of the very ugly bonnet seen at church on Sabbath 
morning, of the very handsome preacher who performed 
on Sabbath afternoon, and of the very large collection made 
on Sabbath evening. This lasts till three, when the car- 
riage again appears, and the lady and her basket return 
home; she mounts to her chamber, carefully sets aside her 
bonnet and its appurtenances, puts on her scolloped black 
silk apron, walks into the kitchen to see that all is right, then 
into the parlour, where, having cast a careful glance over 

252 



OF THE AMERICANS 

the table prepared for dinner, she sits down, work in hand, 
to await her spouse. He comes, shakes hands with her, 
spits, and dines. The conversation is not much, and ten 
minutes suffices for the dinner; fruit and toddy, the news- 
paper and the work-bag succeed. In the evening the gentle- 
man, being a savant, goes to the Wister society, and after- 
wards plays a snug rubber at a neighbour's. The lady 
receives at tea a young missionary and three members of 
the Dorcas society. — And so ends her day. 

For some reason or other, which English people are not 
very likely to understand, a great number of young mar- 
ried persons board by the year, instead of "going to house- 
keeping,'* as they call having an establishment of their 
own. Of course this statement does not include persons 
of large fortune, but it does include very many whose rank 
in society would make such a mode of life quite impossible 
with us. I can hardly imagine a contrivance more effectual 
for ensuring the insignificance of a woman, than marrying 
her at seventeen, and placing her in a boarding-house. Nor 
can I easily imagine a life of more uniform dulness for the 
lady herself ; but this certainly is a matter of taste. I have 
heard many ladies declare, that it is "just quite the per- 
fection of comfort to have nothing to fix for oneself.** Yet 
despite these assurances, I always experienced a feeling 
which hovered between pity and contempt, when I contem- 
plated their mode of existence. 

How would a newly-married Englishwoman endure it, 
her head and her heart full of the one dear scheme — 

"Well-ordered home, his dear delight to make?" 

She must rise exactly in time to reach the boarding-table 
at the hour appointed for breakfast, or she will get a stiff 
bow from the lady president, cold coffee, and no egg. I 
have been sometimes greatly amused upon these occasions 

253 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

by watching a little scene in which the bye-play had much 
more meaning than the words uttered. The fasting, but 
tardy lady, looks round the table, and having ascertained 
that there was no egg left, says distinctly, *'I will take an 
egg if you please/* But as this is addressed to no one in 
particular, no one in particular answers it, unless it happen 
that her husband is at table before her, and then he says, 
"There are no eggs, my dear.'* Whereupon the lady presi- 
dent evidently cannot hear, and the greedy culprit who has 
swallowed two eggs (for there are always as many eggs 
as noses) looks pretty considerably afraid of being found 
out. The breakfast proceeds in sombre silence, save that 
sometimes a parrot, and sometimes a canary bird, ventures 
to utter a timid note. When it is finished, the gentlemen 
hurry to their occupations, and the quiet ladies mount the 
stairs, some to the first, some to the second, and some to the 
third stories, in an inverse proportion to the number of dol- 
lars paid, and ensconce themselves in their respective cham- 
bers. As to what they do there it is not very easy to say; 
but I believe they clear-starch a little, and iron a little, and 
sit in a rocking-chair, and sew a great deal. I always ob- 
served that the ladies who boarded, wore more elaborately- 
worked collars and petticoats than any one else. The 
plougl: is hardly a more blessed instrument in America 
than the needle. How could they live without it ? But time 
and the needle wear through the longest morning, and hap- 
pily the American morning is not very long, even though 
they breakfast at eight. 

It is generally about two o'clock that the boarding gentle- 
men meet the boarding ladies at dinner. Little is spoken, 
except a whisper between the married pairs. Sometimes 
a sulky bottle of wine flanks the plate of one or two indi- 
viduals, but it adds nothing to the mirth of the meeting, 
and seldom more than one glass to the good cheer of the 

254j 



OF THE AMERICANS 

Owners. It is not then, and it is not there, that the gentle- 
men of the Union drink. Soon, very soon, the silent meal 
is done, and then, if you mount the stairs after them, you 
will find from the doors of the more affectionate and indul- 
gent wives, a smell of cigars steam forth, which plainly 
indicates the felicity of the couple within. If the gentle- 
man be a very polite husband, he will, as soon as he has 
done smoking and drinking his toddy, offer his arm to his 
wife, as far as the corner of the street, where his store, or 
his office is situated, and there he will leave her to turn 
which way she likes. As this is the hour for being full 
; dressed, of course she turns the way she can be most seen. 
I Perhaps she pays a few visits ; perhaps she goes to chapel ; 
or, perhaps, she enters some store where her husband deals, 
and ventures to order a few notions; and then she goes 
home again — no, not home — I will not give that name to a 
boarding-house, but she re-enters the cold heartless atmos- 
phere in which she dwells, where hospitality can never 
enter, and where interest takes the management instead of 
affection. At tea they all meet again, and a little trickery 
is perceptible to a nice observer in the manner of partaking 
the pound-cake, &c. After this, those who are happy enough 
to have engagements, hasten to keep them; those who have 
not, either mount again to the solitude of their chamber, or, 
what appeared to me much worse, remain in the common 
sitting-room, in a society cemented by no tie, endeared by 
no connexion, which choice did not bring together, and 
which the slightest motive would break asunder. I remarked 
that the gentlemen were generally obliged to go out every 
evening on business, and, I confess, the arrangement did not 
surprise me. 

It is not thus that the women can obtain that influence 
in society which is allowed to them in Europe, and to which, 

255 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

both sages and men of the world, have agreed in ascribing' 
such salutary effects. It is in vain that "collegiate insti- 
tutes" are formed for young ladies, or that "academic de- 
grees" are conferred upon them. It is after marriage, and 
when these young attempts upon all the sciences are for- 
gotten, that the lamentable insignificance of the American ,i 
woman appears; and till this be remedied, I venture to pro- | 
phesy that the tone of their drawing-rooms will not improve. , 
Whilst I was at Philadelphia a great deal of attention it 
was excited by the situation of two criminals, who had been 
convicted of robbing the Baltimore mail, and were lying 
under sentence of death. The rare occurrence of capital 
punishment in America makes it always an event of great I! 
interest; and the approaching execution was repeatedly the i 
subject of conversation at the boarding table. One day a ' 
gentleman told us he had that morning been assured that i 
one of the criminals had declared to the visiting clergyman 
that he was certain of being reprieved, and that nothing 
the clergyman could say to the contrary made any impres- 
sion upon him. Day after day this same story was re- 
peated, and commented upon at table, and it appeared that 
the report had been heard in so many quarters, that not I 
only was the statement received as true, but it began to be :i 
conjectured that the criminal had some ground for his hope. I 
I learnt from these daily conversations that one of the pris- 
oners was an American, and the other an Irishman, and it i 
was the former who was so strongly persuaded he should 
not be hanged. Several of the gentlemen at table, in can- 
vassing the subject, declared, that if the one were hanged 
and the other spared, this hanging would be a murder, and 
not a legal execution. In discussing this point, it was ; 
stated that very nearly all the white men who had suffered \ 
death since the declaration of Independence had been Irish- 

256 



OF THE AMERICANS 

nen. What truth there may be in this general statement 
[ have no means of ascertaining ; all I know is, that I heard 
t made. On this occasion, however, the Irishman was 
langed, and the American was not. 



257 



CHAPTER XXVII 

Return to Stonington — Thunder-storm — Emigrants 
— Illness — A lexandria 

A FORTNIGHT passcd rapidly away in this great city, and, 
doubtless, there was still much left unseen when we quitted 
it, according to previous arrangement, to return to our 
friends in Maryland. We came back by a different route, 
going by land from Newcastle to French Town, instead of 
passing by the canal. We reached Baltimore in the middle 
of the night, but finished our repose on board the steam- 
boat, and started for Washington at five o'clock the next 
morning. 

Our short abode amid the heat and closeness of a city 
made us enjoy more than ever the beautiful scenery around 
Stonington. The autumn, which soon advanced upon us, 
again clothed the woods in colours too varied and gaudy to 
be conceived by those who have never quitted Europe; and 
the stately maize, waving its flowing tassels, as the long 
drooping blossoms are called, made every field look like a 
little forest. A rainy spring had been followed by a sum- 
mer of unusual heat; and towards the autumn frequent 
thunder-storms of terrific violence cleared the air, but at 
the same time frightened us almost out of our wits. On 
one occasion I was exposed, with my children, to the full 
fury of one of these awful visitations. We suffered con- 
siderable terror during this storm, but when we were aU 
again safe, and comfortably sheltered, we rejoiced that the 
accident had occurred, as it gave us the best possible oppor- 
tunity of witnessing, in all its glory, a transatlantic thun- 
der-storm. It was, however, great imprudence that ex- 
posed us to it, for we quitted the house, and mounted a 

258 



OP THE AMERICANS 

hill at a considerable distance from it, for the express pur- 
pose of watching to advantage the extraordinary aspect of 
the clouds. When we reached the top of the hill half the 
heavens appeared hung with a heavy curtain ; a sort of deep 
blue black seemed to colour the very air; the buzzards 
screamed, as with heavy wing they sought the earth. We 
ought, in common prudence, to have immediately retreated 
to the house, but the scene was too beautiful to be left. For 
several minutes after we reached our station, the air ap- 
peared perfectly without movement, no flash broke through 
the seven-fold cloud, but a flickering light was visible, dart- 
ing to and fro behind it. By degrees the thunder rolled 
onward, nearer and nearer, till the inky cloud burst asunder, 
and cataracts of light came pouring from behind it. From 
that moment there was no interval, no pause, the lightning 
did not flash, there were no claps of thunder, but the heav- 
ens blazed and bellowed above and round us, till stupor 
took the place of terror, and we stood utterly confounded. 
But we were speedily aroused, for suddenly, as if from 
beneath our feet, a gust arose which threatened to mix all 
the elements in one. Torrents of water seemed to bruise 
the earth by their violence; eddies of thick dust rose up to 
meet them ; the fierce fires of heaven only blazed the bright- 
er for the falling flood; while the blast almost out-roared 
the thunder. But the wind was left at last the lord of all, 
for after striking with wild force, now here, now there, and 
bringing worlds of clouds together in most hostile contact, 
it finished by clearing the wide heavens of all but a few 
soft straggling masses, whence sprung a glorious rainbow, 
and then retired, leaving the earth to raise her half crushed 
forests; and we, poor pigmies, to call back our frighted 
senses, and recover breath as we might. 

During this gust, it would have been impossible for us 
to have kept our feet; we crouched down under the shelter 

259 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

of a heap of stones, and_, as we informed each other, looke 
most dismally pale. 

Many trees were brought to the earth before our eyes; 
some torn up by the roots, and some mighty stems snapt 
oiF several feet from the ground. If the West Indian 
hurricanes exceed this, they must be terrible indeed. 

The situation of Mrs. S^***'s house was considered as ij 
remarkably healthy, and I believe justly so, for on more 
than one occasion, persons who were suffering from fever , 
and ague at the distance of a mile or two, were perfectly re- i 
stored by passing a week or fortnight at Stonington ; but i 
the neighbourhood of it, particularly on the side bordering 
the Potomac, was much otherwise, and the mortality among 
the labourers on the canal was frightful. 

I have elsewhere stated my doubts if the labouring poor | 
of our country mend their condition by emigrating to the \ 
United States, but it was not till the opportunity which a i 
vicinity to the Chesapeake and Ohio canal gave me, of know- l 
ing what their situation was after making the change, that ' 
I became fully aware how little it was to be desired for 
them. 

Of the white labourers on this canal, the great majority 
are Irishmen; their wages are from ten to fifteen dollars a ' 
month, with a miserable lodging, and a large allowance of 
whiskey. It is by means of this hateful poison that they 
are tempted, and indeed enabled for a time, to stand the ; 
broiling heat of the sun in a most noxious climate: for j 
through such, close to the romantic but unwholesome Po- 
tomac, the line of the canal has hitherto run. The situ- I 
ation of these poor strangers, when they sink at last in "the \ 
fever/' which sooner or later is sure to overtake them, is 
dreadful. There is a strong feeling against the Irish in j 
every part of the Union, but they will do twice as much j 
work as a negro, and therefore they are employed. When 

260 



OF THE AMEKICANS 

they fall sick, they may and must look with envy on the 
slaves around them; for they are cared for; they are 
watched and physicked, as a valuable horse is watched and 
jDhysicked: not so the Irishman, he is literally thrown on 
one side, and a new comer takes his place. Details of their 
IsuiFerings, and unheeded death, too painful to dwell upon, 
|often reached us; on one occasion a farmer calling at the 
Ihouse, told the family that a poor man, apparently in a 
dying condition, was lying beside a little brook at the dis- 
tance of a quarter of a mile. The spot was immediately 
Ivisited by some of the family, and there in truth lay a 
jpoor creature, who was already past the power of speak- 
iing; he was conveyed to the house, and expired during the 
night. By inquiring at the canal, it was found that he 
was an Irish labourer, who having fallen sick, and spent 
his last cent, had left the stifling shanty where he lay, in 
the desperate attempt of finding his way to Washington, 
with what hope I know not. He did not appear above 
twenty, and as I looked on his pale young face, which even 
in death expressed suffering, I thought that perhaps he had 
left a mother and home to seek wealth in America. I saw 
him buried under a group of locust trees, his very name un- 
known to those who laid him there, but the attendance of 
the whole family at the grave, gave a sort of decency to his 
funeral which rarely, in that country, honours the poor 
relics of British dust; but no clergyman attended, no 
prayer was said, no bell was tolled; these, indeed, are cere- 
monies unthought of, and in fact unattainable without much 
expense, at such a distance from a town ; had the poor 
youth been an American, he would have been laid in the 
earth in the same unceremonious manner. But had this 
poor Irish lad fallen sick in equal poverty and destitution 
among his own people, he would have found a blanket to 

261 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

wrap his shivering limbs, and a kindred hand to close his^ 
eyes. a^ 

The poor of Great Britain, whom distress, or a spirit of 
enterprise tempt to try another land, ought, for many 
reasons, to repair to Canada; there they would meet co- 
operation and sympathy, instead of malice, hatred, and all 
uncharitableness. aj 

I frequently heard vehement complaints, and constantly 
met the same in the newspapers, of a practice stated to be 
very generally adopted in Britain, of sending out cargoes of 
parish paupers to the United States. A Baltimore paper 
heads some such remarks with the words 

"INFAMOUS CONDUCT r 

and then tells us of a cargo of aged paupers just arrived 
from England, adding, "John Bull has squeezed the orange, 
and now insolently casts the skin in our faces." Such being 
the feeling, it will be readily believed that these unfortu- 
nates are not likely to meet much kindness or sympathy in 
sickness, or in suffering of any kind. If these American 
statements be correct, and that different parishes are in- 
duced, from an excessive population, to pay the voyage 
and out-fit of some of their paupers across the Atlantic, 
why not send them to Canada.^ 

It is certain, however, that all the inquiries I could make 
failed to substantiate these American statements. All I 
could ascertain was, that many English and Irish poor ar- 
rived yearly in the United States, with no other resources 
than what their labour furnished. This, though very dif- 
ferent from the newspaper stories, is quite enough to direct 
attention to the subject. It is generally acknowledged that 
the suffering among our labouring classes arises from the 
excess of our population; and it is impossible to see such 
a country as Canada, its extent, its fertility, its fine climate, 

262 



OF THE AMERICANS 

and know that it is British ground, without feeling equal 
sorrow and astonishment that it is not made the means 
of relief. How earnestly it is to be wished that some part 
of that excellent feeling which is for ever at work in Eng- 
land to help the distressed, could be directed systematically 
to the object of emigration to the Canadas. Large sums 
are annually raised for charitable purposes, by weekly sub- 
scriptions of one penny; were only a part of the money so 
obtained to be devoted to this object, hundreds of families 
might yearly be sent to people our own land. The religious 
feeling, which so naturally mixes with every charitable pur- 
pose, would there find the best field for its exertions. Where 
could a missionary, whether Prostestant or Catholic, find a 
holier mission than that which sent him to comfort and in- 
struct his countrymen in the wilderness ? or where could he 
reap a higher reward in this world, than seeing that wilder- 
ness growing into fertile fields under the hands of his 

flock? 

********* 

I never saw so many autumn flowers as grow in the 
woods and sheep-walks of Maryland; a second spring 
seemed to clothe the fields ; but with grief and shame I con- 
fess, that of these precious blossoms I scarcely knew a single 
name. I think the Michaelmas daisy, in wonderful variety 
of form and colour, and the prickly pear, were almost my 
only acquaintance: let no one visit America without having 
first studied botany; it is an amusement, as a clever friend 
of mine once told me, that helps one wonderfully up and 
down hill, and must be superlatively valuable in America, 
both from the plentiful lack of other amusements, and the 
plentiful material for enjoyment in this; besides, if one is 
dying to know the name of any of these lovely strangers, 
it is a thousand to one against his finding any one who can 
tell it. 

263 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

The prettiest eclipse of the moon I ever saw was that oi 
September^ of this year (1830). We had been passing 
some hours amid the solemn scenery of the Potomac falls, 
and just as we were preparing to quit it, the full moon 
arose above the black pines, with half our shadow thrown 
across her. The eiFect of her rising thus eclipsed was more 
strange, more striking by far, than watching the gradual j 
obscuration ; and as I turned to look at the black chasm be- j 
hind me, and saw the deadly alder, and the poison-vine wav- '' 
ing darkly on the rocks around, I thought the scene wanted ; 
nothing but the figure of a palsied crone, plucking the fatal Ijj 
branches to concoct some charm of mischief. 

Whether some such maga dogged my steps, I know 
not, but many hours had not elapsed ere I again felt the 
noxious influence of an American autumn. This fever, ,| 
"built in th' eclipse," speedily brought me very low, and ' 
though it lasted not so long as that of the preceding year, 
I felt persuaded I should never recover from it. Though 
my forebodings were not verified by the event, it was de- 
clared that change of air was necessary, and it was ar- 
ranged for me, (for I was perfectly incapable of settling 
any thing for myself,) that I should go to Alexandria, a ; 
pretty town at the distance of about fifteen miles, which ij 
had the reputation of possessing a skilful physician. 

It was not without regret that we quitted our friends at 
Stonington; but the prescription proved in a great degree 
efficacious; a few weeks' residence in Alexandria restored 
my strength sufficiently to enable me to walk to a beautiful 
little grassy terrace, perfectly out of the town, but very 
near it, from whence we could watch the various craft that 
peopled the Potomac between Alexandria and Washington. 
But though gradually regaining strength, I was still far 
from well; all plans for winter gaiety were abandoned, and I 
finding ourselves very well accommodated, we decided upon 

264, j|; 



OP THE AMERICANS 

passing the winter where we were. It proved unusually 
severe; the Potomac was so completely frozen as to permit 
considerable traffic to be carried on by carts, crossing on the 
ice, from Maryland. This had not occurred before for 
thirty years. The distance was a mile and a quarter, and 
we ventured to brave the cold, and walk across this bright 
slippery mirror, to make a visit on the opposite shore; the 
fatigue of keeping our feet was by no means inconsider- 
able, but we were rewarded by seeing as noble a winter land- 
scape around us as the eye could look upon. 

When at length the frost gave way, the melting snow pro- 
duced freshets so violent as to carry away the long bridge 
at Washington; large fragments of it, with the railing still 
erect, came floating down amidst vast blocks of ice, during 
many successive days, and it was curious to see the in- 
trepidity with which the young sailors of Alexandria periled 
their lives to make spoil of the timber. 

The solar eclipse on the 12th of February, 1831, was 
nearer total than any I ever saw, or ever shall see. It was 
completely annular at Alexandria, and the bright ring which 
surrounded the moon's shadow, though only 8 1 ° in breadth, 
gave light sufficient to read the smallest print; the dark- 
ness was considerably lessened by the snow, which, as the 
day was perfectly unclouded, reflected brightly all the light 
that was left us. 

Notwithstanding the extreme cold, we passed the whole 
time in the open air, on a rising ground near the river; in 
this position many beautiful efl'ects were perceptible; the 
rapid approach and change of shadows, the dusky hue of 
the broad Potomac, that seemed to drink in the feeble light, 
which its snow-covered banks gave back to the air, the 
gradual change of every obj ect from the colouring of bright 
sunshine to one sad universal tint of dingy purple, the mel- 
ancholy lowing of the cattle, and the short, but remarkable 

^65 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

suspension of all labour, gave something of mystery and 
awe to the scene that we shall long remember. 

During the following months I occupied myself partly I 
in revising my notes, and arranging these pages ; and partly 
in making myself acquainted, as much as possible, with 
the literature of the country. 

While reading and transcribing my notes, I underwent I 
a strict self-examination. I passed in review all I had seen, 
all I had felt, an-d scrupulously challenged every expression 
of disapprobation; the result was, that I omitted in tran- ■[ 
scription much that I had written, as containing unnecessary '\ 
details of things which had displeased me ; yet, as I did so, I 
felt strongly that there was no exaggeration in them; but 
such details, though true, might be ill-natured, and I re- 
tained no more than were necessary to convey the general l| 
impressions I received. While thus reviewing my notes, I 
discovered that many points, which all scribbling travellers 
are expected to notice, had been omitted; but a few pages 
of miscellaneous observations will, I think, supply all that 
can be expected from so idle a pen. 



266 

i 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

lAmerican Cooking — Evening Parties — Dress — 
Sleighing — Money-getting Habits — Tax-Gather- 
er's Notice — Indian Summer — Anecdote of the 
Duke of Sacoe-Weiman 

Jn relating all I know of America, I surely must not omit 
ISO important a feature as the cooking. There are sundry 
anomalies in the mode of serving even a first-rate table; but 
as these are altogether matters of custom, they by no means 
indicate either indifference or neglect in this important busi- 
ness ; and whether castors are placed on the table, or on the 
side-board; whether soup, fish, patties, and salad, be eaten 
in orthodox order or not, signifies but little. I am hardly 
capable, I fear, of giving a very erudite critique on the sub- 
j ect ; general observations, therefore, must suffice. The or- 
dinary mode of living is abundant, but not delicate. They 
consume an extraordinary quantity of bacon. Ham and 
beef-steaks appear morning, noon, and night. In eating, 
they mix things together with the strangest incongruity 
imaginable. I have seen eggs and oysters eaten together; 
the sempiternal ham with apple-sauce; beef-steak with 
stewed peaches; and salt fish with onions. The bread is 
everywhere excellent, but they rarely enjoy it themselves, 
as they insist upon eating horrible half-baked hot rolls both 
morning and evening. The butter is tolerable, but they 
have seldom such cream as every little dairy produces in 
England ; in fact, the cows are very roughly kept, compared 
with ours. Common vegetables are abundant and very fine. 
I never saw sea-cale or cauliflowers, and either from the 
want of summer rain, or the want of care, the harvest of 

•267 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

green vegetables is much sooner over than with us. They 
eat the Indian corn in a great variety of forms; sometimes 
it is dressed green, and eaten like peas; sometimes it is 
broken to pieces when dry, boiled plain, and brought to 
table like rice ; this dish is called hominy. The flour of it is 
made into at least a dozen different sorts of cakes; but in 
my opinion all bad. This flour, mixed in the proportion of 
one-third with fine wheat, makes by far the best bread 
I ever tasted. 

I never saw turbot, salmon, or fresh cod; but the rock 
and shad are excellent. There is a great want of skill in 
the composition of sauces ; not only with fish, but with every 
thing. They use very few made dishes, and I never saw 
any that would be approved by our savants. They have an 
excellent wild duck, called the Canvas Back, which, if deli- 
cately served, would surpass the black cock; but the game 
is very inferior to ours ; they have no hares, and I never saw 
a pheasant. They seldom indulge in second courses, with 
all their ingenious temptations to the eating a second 
dinner; but almost every table has its dessert (invariably 
pronounced desart), which is placed on the table before the 
cloth is removed, and consists of pastry, preserved fruits, 
and creams. They are "extravagantly fond,'* to use their 
own phrase, of puddings, pies, and all kinds of "sweets," 
particularly the ladies; but are by no means such con- 
noisseurs in soups and ragouts as the gastronomes of Europe. 
Almost every one drinks water at table, and by a strange 
contradiction, in the country where hard drinking is more 
prevalent than in any other, there is less wine taken at 
dinner; ladies rarely exceed one glass, and the majority of 
females never take any. In fact, the hard drinking, so 
universally acknowledged, does not take place at jovial din- 
ners, but, to speak plain English, in solitary dram-drinking. 
CoiFee is not served immediately after dinner, but makes 

268 



OF THE AMERICANS 

part of the serious matter of tea-drinking, which comes 
some hours later. Mixed dinner parties to ladies and gen- 
tlemen are very rare, and unless several foreigners are pres- 
ent, little conversation passes at table. It centainly does 
not, in my opinion, add to the well ordering a dinner table, 
to set the gentleman at one end of it, and the ladies at the 
other ; but it is very rarely that you find it otherwise. 

Their large evening parties are supremely dull; the men 
sometimes play cards by themselves, but if a lady plays, it 
must not be for money ; no ecarte, no chess ; very little music, 
and that little lamentably bad. Among the blacks I heard 
some good voices, singing in tune; but I scarcely ever heard 
a white American, male or female, go through an air without 
being out of tune before the end of it; nor did I ever meet 
any trace of science in the singing I heard in society. To 
eat inconceivable quantities of cake, ice, and pickled oysters 
— and to show half their revenue in silks and satins, seem 
to be the chief obj ect they have in these parties. 

The most agreeable meetings, I was assured by all the 
young people, were those to which no married women are 
admitted ; of the truth of this statement I have not the least 
doubt. These exclusive meetings occur frequently, and 
often last to a late hour ; on these occasions, I believe, they 
generally dance. At regular balls married ladies are ad- 
mitted, but seldom take much part in the amusement. The 
refreshments are always profuse and costly, but taken in 
a most uncomfortable manner. I have known many private 
balls, where every thing was on the most liberal scale of 
expense, where the gentlemen sat down to supper in one 
room, while the ladies took theirs, standing, in another. 

What we call pic-nics are very rare, and when attempted, 
do not often succeed well. The two sexes can hardly mix 
for the greater part of a day without great restraint and 
ennui; it is quite contrary to their general habits; the 

269 



DOMESTIC MANNERS j 

i 

favourite indulgences of the gentlemen (smoking cigars and 
drinking spirits) can neither be indulged in with decency, 
nor resigned with complacency. 

The ladies have strange ways of adding to their charms. 
They powder themselves immoderately, face, neck, and arms, 
with pulverized starch; the effect is indescribably disagree- 
able by day-light, and not very favourable at any time. 
They are also most unhappily partial to false hair, which 
they wear in surprising quantities; this is the more to be 
lamented, as they generally have very fine hair of their 
own. I suspect this fashion to arise from an indolent 
mode of making their toilet, and from accomplished ladies' 
maids not being very abundant ; it is less trouble to append 
a bunch of waving curls here, there, and every where, 
than to keep their native tresses in perfect order. 

Though the expense of the ladies' dress greatly exceeds, 
in proportion to their general style of living, that of the 
ladies of Europe, it is very far (excepting in Philadelphia) 
from being in good taste. They do not consult the seasons 
in the colours or in the style of their costume; I have often 
shivered at seeing a young beauty picking her way through 
the snow with a pale rose-coloured bonnet, set on the very 
top of her head : I knew one young lady whose pretty little 
ear was actually frost-bitten from being thus exposed. 
They never wear muffs or boots, and appear extremely 
shocked at the sight of comfortable walking shoes and cotton 
stockings, even when they have to step to their sleighs 
over ice and snow. They walk in the middle of winter 
with their poor little toes pinched into a miniature slipper, 
incapable of excluding as much moisture as might bedew 
a primrose. I must say in their excuse, however, that they 
have, almost universally, extremely pretty feet. They do 
not walk well, nor, in fact, do they ever appear to advantage 
when in movement. I know not why this should be, for 

270 



OF THE AMERICANS 

they have abundance of French dancing-masters among 
them, but somehow or other it is the fact. I fancied I 
could often trace a mixture of affectation and of shyness 
in their little mincing unsteady step, and the ever changing 
position of the hands. They do not dance well; perhaps 
I should rather say they do not look well when dancing; 
lovely as their faces are, they cannot, in a position that 
exhibits the whole person, atone for the want of tournure, 
and for the universal defect in the formation of the bust, 
which is rarely full, or gracefully formed. 

I never saw an American man walk or stand well; not- 
withstanding their frequent militia drilling, they are nearly 
all hollow chested and round shouldered: perhaps this is 
occasioned by no officer daring to say to a brother free-born 
"hold up your head ;" whatever the cause, the effect is very 
remarkable to a stranger. In stature, and in physiognomy, 
a great majority of the population, both male and female, 
are strikingly handsome, but they know not how to do their 
iown honours; half as much comeliness elsewhere would 
produce ten times as much effect. 

Nothing can exceed their activity and perseverance in 
all kinds of speculation, handicraft, and enterprise, which 
promises a profitable pecuniary result. I heard an English- 
man, who had been long resident in America, declare that 
in following, in meeting, or in overtaking, in the street, on 
the road, or in the field, at the theatre, the coffee-house, or 
at home, he had never overheard Americans conversing 
without the word dollar being pronounced between them. 
Such unity of purpose, such sympathy of feeling, can, I 
believe, be found nowhere else, except, perhaps, in an ants' 
nest. The result is exactly what might be anticipated. 
This sordid object, for ever before their eyes, must in- 
evitably produce a sordid tone of mind, and, worse still, it 
j produces a seared and blunted conscience on all questions 

271 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

of probity. I know not a more striking evidence of the 
low tone of morality which is generated by this universal : 
pursuit of money, than the manner in which the New Eng- 
land States are described by Americans. All agree in say- 
ing that they present a spectacle of industry and prosperity 
delightful to behold, and this is the district and the popu- ■ 
lation most constantly quoted as the finest specimen of ' 
their admirable country ; yet I never met a single individual ' 
in any part of the Union who did not paint these New 
Englanders as sly, grinding, selfish, and tricking. The 
Yankees (as the New Englanders are called) will avow • 
these qualities themselves with a complacent smile, and boast ^ 
that no people on the earth can match them at over-reaching 
in a bargain. I have heard them unblushingly relate stories I 
of their cronies and friends, which, if believed among us, i 
would banish the heroes from the fellowship of honest j 
men for ever ; and all this is uttered with a simplicity which f 
sometimes led me to doubt if the speakers knew what honour 
and honesty meant. Yet the Americans declare that **they 
are the most moral people upon earth." Again and j 
again I have heard this asserted, not only in conversation, j 
and by their writings, but even from the pulpit. Such 1 
broad assumption of superior virtue demands examination, | 
and after four years of attentive and earnest observation m 
and inquiry, my honest conviction is, that the standard of 
moral character in the United States is very greatly lower 
than in Europe. Of their religion, as it appears outwardly, j 
I have had occasion to speak frequently; I pretend not to 
judge the heart, but, without any uncharitable presumption, 
I must take permission to say, that both Protestant Eng- 
land and Catholic France show an infinitely superior reli- ; 
gious and moral aspect to mortal observation, both as to j 
reverend decency of external observance, and as to the in- * 
ward fruit of honest dealing between man and man. 

272 



OF THE AMERICANS 

In other respects I think no one will be disappointed 
who visits the country, expecting to find no more than com- 
mon sense might teach him to look for, namely, a vast con- 
tinent, by far the greater part of which is still in the state 
in which nature left it, and a busy, bustling, industrious 
population, hacking and hewing their way through it. What 
greatly increases the interest of this spectacle, is the wonder- 
ful facility for internal commerce, furnished by the rivers, 
lakes, and canals, which thread the country in every direc- 
tion, producing a rapidity of progress in all commercial and 
agricultural speculation altogether unequalled. This re- 
markable feature is perceptible in every part of the Union 
into which the fast spreading population has hitherto found 
its way, and forms, I think, the most remarkable and in- 
teresting peculiarity of the country. I hardly remember 
a single town where vessels of some description or other may 
not constantly be seen in full activity. 

Their carriages of every kind are very unlike ours ; those 
belonging to private individuals seem all constructed with 
a view to summer use, for which they are extremely well 
calculated, but they are by no means comfortable in winter. 
The waggons and carts are built with great strength, which 
is indeed necessary, from the roads they often have to en- 
counter. The stage-coaches are heavier and much less com- 
fortable than those of France ; to those of England they can 
bear no comparison. I never saw any harness that I could 
call handsome, nor any equipage which, as to horses, car- 
riage, harness, and servants, could be considered as com- 
plete. The sleighs are delightful, and constructed at so 
little expense that I wonder we have not all got them in 
England, lying by, in waiting for the snow, which often re- 
oaains with us long enough to permit their use. Sleighing 
is much more generally enjoyed by night than by day, for 
what reason I could never discover, unless it be, that no 

273 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

gentlemen are to be found disengaged from business in 
the mornings. Nothing, certainly, can be more agreeable 
than the gliding smoothly and rapidly along, deep sunk in 
soft furs, the moon shining with almost midday splendour, 
the air of crystal brightness, and the snow sparkling on 
every side, as if it were sprinkled with diamonds. And 
then the noiseless movement of the horses, so mysterious and 
unwonted, and the gentle tinkling of the bells you meet and 
carry, all help at once to soothe and excite the spirits: in; 
shart, I had not the least objection to sleighing by night, Ij 
only wished to sleigh by day also. - 

Almost every resident in the country has a carriage they 
call a carryall, which name I suspect to be a corruption of 
the cariole so often mentioned in the pretty Canadian story 
of Emily Montagu. It is clumsy enough, certainly, but 
extremely convenient, and admirably calculated, with its 
thick roof and movable draperies, for every kind of sum-| 
mer excursion. | 

Their steam-boats, were the social arrangements somewhat ' 
improved, would be delightful, as a mode of travelling ; but 
they are very seldom employed for excursions of mere;] 
amusement: nor do I remember seeing pleasure-boats, prop- 
erly so called, at any of the numerous places where they ] 
might be used with so much safety and enjoyment. 

How often did our homely adage recur to me, 'All work 
and no play would make Jack a dull boy;" Jonathan is a 
very dull boy. We are by no means so gay as our lively; 
neighbours on the other side of the Channel, but, compared 
with Americans, we are whirligigs and teetotums; every day 
is a holiday, aand every night a festival. 

Perhaps if the ladies had quite their own way, a little 
more relaxation would be permitted ; but there is one re- 
markable peculiarity in their manners which precludes the 
possibility of any dangerous out-breaking of the kind: few 

274 



OP THE AMERICANS 

ladies have any command of ready money entrusted to them. 
I liave been a hmidred times j^resent when bills for a few 
dollars, perhaps for one, have been brought for payment to 
ladies living in perfectly easy circumstances, who have de- 
clared themselves without money, and referred the claimant 
to their husbands for payment. On every occasion where 
i immediate disbursement is required it is the same; even in 
shopping for ready cash they say, "send a bill home with the 
I things, and my husband will give you a draft." 
) I think that it was during my stay at Washington, that 
I was informed of a government regulation, which appeared 
jto me curious; I therefore record it here. 
■ Every Deputy Post-Master is required to insert in his 
' return the title of every newspaper received at his office for 
distribution. This return is laid before the Secretary of 
State, who, perfectly knowing the political character of each 
newspaper, is thus enabled to feel the pulse of every limb 
of the monster mob. This is a well imagined device for 
getting a peep at the politics of a country where newspapers 
make part of the daily food, but is it quite consistent with 
their entire freedom? I do not believe we have any such 
tricks to regulate the disposal of offices and appointments. 
I believe it was in Indiana that Mr. T. met with a printed 
notice relative to the payment of taxes, which I preserved 
as a curious sample of the manner in which the free citizens 
are coaxed and reasoned into obeying the laws. 

, "LOOK OUT DELINQUENTS. 

"Those indebted to me for taxes, fees, notes, and accounts, 
are specially requested to call and pay the same on or be- 
fore the 1st day of December, 1828, as no longer indulgence 
will be given. I have called time and again, by advertise- 
ment and otherwise, to little effect; but now the time has 
come when my situation requires immediate payment from 

275 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

all indebted to me. It is impossible for me to pay off the 
amount of the duplicates of taxes and my other debts with- 
out recovering the same of those from whom it is due. I ■ 
am at a loss to know the reason why those charged with 
taxes neglect to pay ; from the negligence of many it would 
seem that they think the money is mine^ or that I have funds 
to discharge the taxes due to the State, and that I can wait 
with them until it suits their convenience to pay. The 
money is not mine, neither have I the funds to settle amount 
of the duplicate. My only resort is to collect; in doing so 
I should be sorry to have to resort to the authority given me 
by law for the recovery of the same. It should be the first 
object of every good citizen to pay his taxes, for it is in 
that way government is supported. Why are taxes assessed 
unless they are collected? Depend upon it, I shall pro- 
ceed to collect agreeably to law, so govern yourselves ac- 
cordingly. 

"JOHN SPENCER, 
"Sh'ff and Collector, D. C. 

"Nov. 20, 1828. 

"N.B. On Thursday, the 27th inst. A. St. Clair and Geo. 
H. Dunn, Esqrs. depart for Indianapolis; I wish as many 
as can pay to do so, to enable me to forward as much as 
possible, to save the twenty-one percent, that will be charged 
against me after the 8th of December next. 

"J. S." 

The first autumn I passed in America, I was surprised to 
find a great and very oppressive return of heat, accom- 
panied with a heavy mistiness in the air, long after the sum- 
mer heats were over ; when this state of the atmosphere comes 
on, they say "we have got to the Indian summer." On de- 
siring to have this phrase explained, I was told that the 
phenomenon described as the Indian summer was occasioned 
by the Indians setting fire to the woods, which spread heat 



276 



i 



OP THE AMERICANS 

and smoke to a great distance; but I afterwards met with 
the following explanation^ which appears to me much more 
reasonable. "The Indian summer is so called because, at 
the particular period of the year in which it obtains, the 
Indians break up their village communities, and go to the 
interior to prepare for their winter hunting. This season 
seems to mark a dividing line, between the heat of summer, 
and the cold of winter, and is, from its mildness, suited 
to these migrations. The cause of this heat is the slow com- 
bustion of the leaves and other vegetable matter of the 
boundless and interminable forests. Those who at this 
season of the year have penetrated these forests, know all 
about it. To the feet the heat is quite sensible, whilst the 
ascending vapour warms every thing it embraces, and 
spreading out into the wide atmosphere, fills the circuit of 
the heavens with its peculiar heat and smokiness." 

This unnatural heat sufficiently accounts for the sickliness 
of the American autumn. The effect of it is extremely dis- 
tressing to the nerves, even when the general health con- 
tinues good; to me, it was infinitely more disagreeable than 
the glowing heat of the dog-days. 

A short time before we arrived in America, the Duke of 
Saxe- Weimar made a tour of the United States. I heard 
many persons speak of his unaffected and amiable manners, 
yet he could not escape the dislike which every trace of 
gentlemanly feeling is sure to create among the ordinary 
class of Americans. As an amusing instance of this, I made 
the following extract from a newspaper. 

"A correspondent of the Charlestown Gazette tells an 
anecdote conected with the Duke of Saxe-Weimar's recent 
journey through our country, which we do not recollect to 
have heard before, although some such story is told of the 
veritable Capt. Basil Hall. The scene occurred on the route 
between Augusta and Milledgeville ; it seems that the 

277 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

sagacious Duke engaged three or four^ or more seats, in the 
regular stage, for the accommodation of himself and suite, 
and thought by this that he had secured the monopoly of 
the vehicle. Not so, however; a traveller came along, and 
entered his name upon the book, and secured his seat by paj^- 
ment of the customary charges. To the Duke's great sur- 
prise on entering the stage, he found our traveller com- 
fortably housed in one of the most eligible seats, wrapt up 
in his fear-nought, and snoring like a buffalo. The Duke, 
greatly irritated, called for the question of consideration. 
He demanded, in broken English, the cause of the gross 
intrusion, and insisted in a very princely manner, though 
not, it seems, in very princely language, upon the incumbent 
vacating the seat in which he had made himself so impu- 
dently at home. But the Duke had yet to learn his first 
lesson of republicanism. The driver was one of those 
sturdy southrons, who can always, and at a moment's warn- 
ing, whip his weight in wild cats; and he as resolutely told 
the Duke, that the traveller was as good, if not a better man, 
than himself ; and that no alteration of the existing arrange- 
ment could be permitted. S axe- Weimar became violent at 
this opposition, so unlike any to which his education hitherto 
had ever subj ected him, and threatened John with the appli- 
cation of the bamboo. This was one of those threats which 
in Georgia dialect would subject a man to *a rowing up salt 
river;' and, accordingly, down leaped our driver from his 
box, and peeling himself for the combat, he leaped about 
the vehicle in the most wild-boar style, calling upon the 
prince of a five acre patch to put his threat in execution. 
But he of the star refused to make up issue in the way 
suggested, contenting himself with assuring the enraged 
southron of a complaint to his excellency the Governor, on 
arriving at the seat of government. This threat was almost 
as unlucky as the former, for it wrought the individual for 

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OF THE AMERICANS 

whom it was intended into that species of fury, which, 
though discriminating in its madness, is nevertheless without 
much limit in its violence, and he swore that the Governor 

might go to , and for his part he would just as leave 

lick the Governor as the Duke ; he'd like no better fun than 
to give both Duke and Governor a dressing in the same 
breath ; could do it, he had little doubt, &c. &:c. ; and insti- 
gating one fist to diverge into the face of the marvelling and 
panic-stricken nobleman, with the other he thrust him down 
into a seat alongside the traveller, whose presence had been 
originally of such sore discomfort to his excellency, and 
bidding the attendants jump in with their discomfited mas- 
ter, he mounted his box in triumph, and went on his jour- 
ney." 

I fully believe that this brutal history would be as dis- 
tasteful to the travelled and polished few who are to be 
found scattered through the Union, as it is to me; but if 
they do not deem the possibility of such a scene to be a 
national degradation, I differ from them. The American 
people (speaking of the great mass) have no more idea of 
what constitutes the difference between this "Prince of a 
five acre patch," and themselves, than a dray-horse has of 
estimating the points of the elegant victor of the race-course. 
Could the dray-horse speak, when expected to yield the 
daintiest stall to his graceful rival, he would say, "a horse is 
a horse;" and is it not with the same logic that the trans- 
atlantic Houynnhnm puts down all superiority with **a man 
is a man?" 

This story justifies the reply of Talleyrand, when asked 
by Napoleon what he thought of the Americans, "Sire, ce 
sont des fiers cochons, et des cochons fiers." 



279 



CHAPTER XXIX 
Literature — Extracts — Fine Arts — Education ! 

The character of the American literature is^ generally 
speaking, pretty justly appreciated in Europe. The im- 
mense exhalation of periodical trash, which penetrates into 
every cot and corner of the country, and which is greedily 
sucked in by all ranks, is unquestionably one great cause of 
its inferiority. Where newspapers are the principal vehicles! 
of the wit and wisdom of a people, the higher graces of 
composition can hardly be looked for. 

That there are many among them who can write well, is' 
most certain ; but it is at least equally so, that they have little 
encouragement to exercise the power in any manner more 
dignified than becoming the editor of a newspaper or a mag- 
azine. As far as I could judge, their best writers are far 
from being the most popular. The general taste is de- 
cidedly bad ; this is obvious, not only from the mass of slip- 
slop poured forth by the daily and weekly press, but from 
the inflated tone of eulogy in which their insect authors are 
lauded. 

To an American writer, I should think it must be a 
flattering distinction to escape the admiration of the news- 
papers. Few persons of taste, I imagine, would like such 
notice as the following, which I copied from a New York 
paper, where it followed the advertisement of a partnership 
volume of poems by a Mr. and Mrs. Brooks; but of such, 
are their literary notices chiefly composed. 

"The lovers of impassioned and classical numbers may 
promise themselves much gratification from the muse of 
Brooks, while the many-stringed harp of his lady, the 

280 



OP THE AMERICANS 

Noma of the Courier Harp, which none but she can touch, 
has a chord for every heart." 

Another obvious cause of inferiority in the national lit- 
erature, is the very slight acquaintance with the best models 
of composition, which is thought necessary for persons 
called well educated. There may be reason for deprecating 
the lavish expense of time bestowed in England on the ac- 
quirement of Latin and Greek, and it may be doubtful 
v/hether the power of composing in these languages, with 
correctness and facility, be worth all the labour it costs; 
but as long as letters shall be left on the earth, the utility 
of a perfect familiarity with the exquisite models of an- 
tiquity cannot be doubted. I think I run no risk of contra- 
diction, when I say that an extremely small proportion of 
the higher classes in America possess this familiar acquaint- 
ance with the classics. It is vain to suppose that transla- 
tions may suffice. Noble as are the thoughts the ancients 
have left us, their power of expression is infinitely more 
important as a study to modern writers ; and this no transla- 
tion can furnish. Nor did it appear to me that their in- 
timacy with modern literature was such as to assist them 
much in the formation of style. What they class as modern 
literature seems to include little beyond the English pub- 
lications of the day. 

To speak of Chaucer, or even Spenser, as a modern, ap- 
pears to them inexpressibly ridiculous ; and all the rich and 
varied eloquence of Italy, from Dante to Monti, is about, 
as much known to them, as the Welsh effusions of Urien 
and Modred to us. 

Rousseau, Voltaire, Diderot, &c., were read by the old 
federalists^ but now they seem known more as naughty 
words than as great names. I am much mistaken if a 
hundred untravelled Americans could be found, who have 
read Boileau or La Fontaine. Still fewer are acquainted 

281 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

with that delightful host of French female writers, whose 
memoirs and letters sparkle in every page with unequalled 
felicity of style. The literature of Spain and Portugal is 
no better known; and as for "the wits of Queen Anne's 
day/' they are laid en masse upon a shelf, in some score of 
very old-fashioned houses, together with Sherlock and Tay- 
lor, as much too antiquated to suit the immensely rapid 
progress of mind which distinguishes America. 

The most perfect examples of English writing, either of 
our own, or of any former day, have assuredly not been pro- 
duced by the imitation of any particular style ; but the Fairy 
Queen would hardly have been written, if the Orlando had 
not ; nor would Milton have been the perfect poet he was, had 
Virgil and Tasso been unknown to him. It is not that the 
scholar mimics in writing the phrases he has read, but that 
he can neither think, feel, nor express himself as he might 
have done, had his mental companionship been of a lower 
order. 

They are great novel readers, but the market is chiefly 
furnished by England. They have, however, a few very 
good native novels. Mr. Flint's Francis Berrian is delight- 
ful. There is a vigour and freshness in his writing that is 
exactly in accordance with what one looks for in the lit- 
erature of a new country; and yet, strange to say, it is 
exactly what is most wanting in that of America. It ap- 
peared to me that the style of their imaginative compositions 
was almost always affected and inflated. Even in treating 
their great national subject of romance, the Indians, they 
are seldom either powerful or original. A few well-known 
general features, moral and physical, are presented over 
and over again in all their Indian stories, till in reading 
them you lose all sense of individual character. Mr. Flint's 
History of the Mississippi Valley is a work of great inter- 
est and information, and will, I hope, in time find its way 

282 



OP THE AMERICANS 

to England, where I think it is much more likely to be ap- 
preciated than in America. 

Dr. Channing is a writer too well known in England to 
require my testimony to his great ability. As a preacher 
he has, perhaps, hardly a rival any where. This gentle- 
man is an Unitarian ; and I was informed by several persons 
well acquainted with the literary characters of the country, 
that nearly all their distinguished men were of this per- 
suasion. 

Mr. Pierpoint is a very eloquent preacher, and a sweet 
poet. His works are not so well known among us as they 
ought to be. Mr. Everett has written some beautiful lines ; 
and if I may judge from the specimens of his speeches, 
as preserved in the volume intitled "Eloquence of the United 
States," I should say that he shone more as a poet than an 
orator. But American fame has decided otherwise. 

Mr. M. Flint, of Louisiana, has published a volume of 
poems which ought to be naturalised here. Mr. Hallock, 
of New York, has much facility of versification, and is 
greatly in fashion as a drawing-room poet, but I think he 
has somewhat too much respect for himself, and too little for 
his readers. 

It is, I think, Mr. Bryant who ranks highest as the poet 
of the Union. This is too lofty an eminence for me to 
attack; besides, "I am of another parish," and therefore, 
perhaps, no very fair judge. 

From miscellaneous poetry I made a great many extracts, 
but upon returning to them for transcription, I thought that 
ill-nature and dulness ("Oh ill-matched pair!") would be 
more served by their insertion than wholesome criticism. 

The massive Fredoniad of Dr. Emmons, in forty cantos, 
I never read ; but as I did not meet a single native who had, 
I hope this want of poetical enterprise will be excused. 

They have very few native tragedies ; not more than half 

28S 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

a dozen I believe^ and those of very recent date. It would 
be ungenerous to fall heavily upon these ; the attempt alone, 
nearly the most arduous a poet can make, is of itself hon- 
ourable ; and the success at least equal to that in any other 
department of literature. 

Mr. Paulding is a popular writer of novels: some of his 
productions have been recently republished in England. 
Miss Sedgwick is also well known among us; her "Hope 
Leslie'* is a beautiful story. Mr. Washington Irving and 
Mr. Cooper have so decidedly chosen another field, whereon 
to reap their laurels, that it is hardly necessary to name 
them here. 

I am not, of course, competent to form any opinion of 
their scientific works; but some papers which I read almost 
accidentally, appeared to me to be written with great clear- 
ness, and neatness of definition. i 

It appears extraordinary that a people who loudly declare 
their respect for science, should be entirely without observa- 
tories. Neither at their seats of learning, nor in their cities, 
does any thing of the kind exist; nor did I in any direction 
hear of individuals given to the study of astronomy. 

I had not the pleasure of making any acquaintance with 
Mr. Bowditch, of Boston, but I know that this gentleman 
ranks very high as a mathematician in the estimation of 
the scientific world of Europe. 

Jefferson's posthumous works were very generally circu- 
lated whilst I was in America. They are a mighty mass of 
mischief. He wrote with more perspicuity than he thought, 
and his hot-headed democracy has done a fearful injury to 
his country. Hollow and unsound as his doctrines are, they 
are but too palatable to a people, each individual of whom 
would rather derive his importance from believing that none 
are above him, than from the consciousness that in his 
station he makes part of a noble whole. The social system 

^84 



OF THE AMERICANS 

of Mr. Jefferson, if carried into effect, would make of man- 
kind an unamalgamated mass of grating atoms, where the 
darling "I'm as good as you," would soon take the place of 
the law and the Gospel. As it is, his principles, though 
happily not fully put in action, have yet produced most 
lamentable results. The assumption of equality, however 
empty, is sufficient to tincture the manners of the poor with 
brutal insolence, and subjects the rich to the paltry ex- 
pediency of sanctioning the falsehood, however deep their 
conviction that it is such. It cannot, I think, be denied 
that the great men of America attain to power and to fame, 
by eternally uttering what they know to be untrue. Amer- 
ican citizens are not equal. Did Washington feel them to 
be so, when his word out-weighed (so happily for them) the 
votes of thousands ? Did Franklin think that all were equal 
when he shouldered his way from the printing press to the 
cabinet.'* True, he looked back in high good humour, and 
with his kindest smile told the poor devils whom he left 
behind, that they were all his equals; but Franklin did not 
speak the truth, and he knew it. The great, the immortal 
Jefferson himself, he who when past the three score years 
and ten, still taught young females to obey his nod, and so 
became the father of unnumbered generations of groaning 
slaves, what was his matin and his vesper hymn ? 'All men 
are born free and equal." Did the venerable father of the 
gang believe it, Or did he too purchase his immortality 
by a lie ^ 

********* 

From the five heavy volumes of the "Eloquence of the 
United States," I made a few extracts, which I give more 
for the sake of their political interest, than for any pur- 
pose of literary criticism. 

Mr. Hancock (one of those venerated men who signed the 
act of independence), in speaking of England, thus 

285 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

expresses himself: "But if I was possessed of the gift of 
prophecy, I dare not (except by Divine command) unfold 
the leaves on which the destiny of that once powerful king- 
dom is inscribed." It is impossible not to regret that Mr. 
Hancock should thus have let "I dare not, wait upon I 
would." It would have been exceedingly edifying to have 
known beforehand all the terrible things the republic was 
about to do for us. 

This prophetic orator spoke the modest, yet awful words, ,1 
above quoted, nearly sixty years ago; in these latter days 
men are become bolder, for in a modern 4th of July oration, 
Mr. Rush, without waiting, I think, for Divine command, 
gives the following amiable portrait of the British character, . 

"In looking at Britain, we see a harshness of individual 
character in the general view of it, which is perceived and 
acknowledged by all Europe ; a spirit of unbecoming censure 
as regards all customs and institutions not their own ; a feroc- 
ity in some of their characteristics of national manners, 
pervading their very pastimes, which no other modern people 
are endued with the blunted sensibility to bear ; an universal 
self-assumed superiority, not innocently manifesting itself | 
in speculative sentiments among themselves, but unamiably ' 
indulged when with foreigners, of whatever description, in \ 
their own country, or when they themselves are the tempo- 
rary sojourners in a foreign country; a code of criminal law I 
that forgets to feel for human frailty, that sports with ' 
human misfortune, that has shed more blood in deliberate ju- ; 
dicial severity for two centuries past, constantly increasing, 
too, in its sanguinary hue, than has ever been sanctioned by 
the jurisprudence of any ancient or modern nation, civilized 
and refined like herself ; the merciless whippings in her ij 
army, peculiar to herself alone, the conspicuous commission 
and freest acknowledgment of vice in the upper classes; 
the overweening distinctions shown to opulence and birth, 

286 



OF THE AMERICANS 

so destructive of a sound moral sentiment in the nation, so 
baffling to virtue. These are some of the traits that rise 
up to a contemplation of the inhabitants of this isle." 

Where is the alchymy that can extract from Captain 
Hall's work one thousandth part of the ill-will contained in 
this one passage.^ Yet America has resounded from shore 
to shore with execrations against his barbarous calumnies. 

But now we will listen to another tone. Let us see how 
Americans can praise. Mr. Everett, in a recent 4th of 
July oration, speaks thus: — 

"We are authorised to assert that the era of our independ- 
ence dates the establishment of the only perfect organiza- 
tion of government." Again, "Our government is in its 
theory perfect, and in its operation it is perfect also. Thus 
we have solved the great problem in human affairs." And 
again, "A frame of government, perfect in its principles, has 
been brought down from the airy regions of Utopia, and has 
found a local habitation and a name in our country." 

Among my miscellaneous reading, I got hold of an Amer- 
ican publication, giving a detailed, and, indeed, an official 
account of the capture of Washington by the British, in 
1814. An event so long past, and of so little ultimate im- 
portance, is perhaps, hardly worth alluding to; but there 
are some passages in the official documents which I thought 
very amusing. 

At the very moment of receiving the attack of the British 
on the heights of Bladensburgh, there seems to have been 
a most curious puzzle among the American generals, as to 
where they were to be stationed, and what they were to do. 
It is stated that the British threw themselves forward in 
open order, advancing singly. The American general 
(Winden) goes on in his narrative to describe what fol- 
lowed, thus : — 

"Our advanced riflemen now began to fire, and continued 

287 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

it for half a dozen rounds, when I observed them to run back 
to an orchard. They halted there, and seemed for a 
moment about returning to their original position, but in 
a few moments entirely broke, and retired to the left of 
Stanburg's line. The advanced artillery immediately fol- 
lowed the riflemen. 

"The first three or four rockets fired by the enemy were 
much above the heads of Stansburg's line; but the rockets 
having taken a more horizontal direction, an universal flight 
of the centre and left of this brigade was the consequence. 
The 5th regiment and the artillery still remained, and I 
hoped would prevent the enemy's approach, but they ad- 
vancing singly, their fire annoyed the 5th considerably, 
when I ordered it to retire, to put it out of the reach of the 
enemy. This order was, however, immediately counter- 
manded, from an aversion to retire before the necessity be- 
came stronger, and from a hope that the enemy would issue 
in a body, and enable us to act upon him on terms of equal- 
ity. But the enemy's fire beginning to annoy the 5th still 
more, by wounding several of them, and a strong column 
passing up the road, and deploying on its left, I ordered 
them to retire ; their retreat became a flight of absolute and 
total disorder." 

Of Beall's regiment, the general gives the following suc- 
cinct account — "It gave one or two ineffectual fires and 
fled." 

In another place he says piteously, — "The cavalry would 
do any thing but charge.'* 

General Armstrong's gentle and metaphysical account of 
the business was, that — "Without all doubt the determining 
cause of our disasters is to be found in the love of life." 

This affair at Washington, which in its results was cer- 
tainly advantageous to America, inasmuch as it caused the 
present beautiful capitol to be built in the place of the one 

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OF THE AMERICANS 

we burnt, was, nevertheless, considered as a national calam- 
ity at the time. In the volume of miscellaneous poems I met 
with one, written with the patriotic purpose of cheering 
the country under it ; one triplet struck me as rather alarm- 
ing for us, however soothing to America. 



k 



^'Supposing George's house at Kew 
Were burnt, as we intend to do. 
Would that be burning England too ?" 



think I have before mentioned that no work of mere 
pleasantry has hitherto been found to answer; but a recent 
attempt of the kind has been made, with what success cannot 
as yet be decided. The editors are comedians belonging 
to the Boston company, and it is entitled "The American 
Comic Annual.'* It is accompanied by etchings, somewhat 
in the manner, but by no means with the spirit of Cruik- 
shank's. Among the pleasantries of this lively volume are 
some biting attacks upon us, particularly upon our utter in- 
capacity of speaking English. We really must engage a 
few American professors, or we shall lose all trace of classic 
purity in our language. As a specimen, and rather a favour- 
able one, of the work, I transcribed an extract from a little 
piece, entitled, "Sayings and Doings, a Fragment of a 
Farce." One of the personages of this farce is an English 
gentleman, a Captain Mandaville, and among many speeches 
of the same kind, I selected the following. Collins's Ode 
is the subject of conversation. 

"A r, A — a — a it stroiks me that that you manetion 

his the hode about hangger and ope and orror and revenge 
you know. I've card Mrs. Sitdowns hencored in it at Com- 
mon Garden and Doory Lane in the ight of her poplarity 
you know. By the boye, hall the hactin in Amareka is 
werry orrid. You're honely in the hinfancy of the istory- 
onic hart you know; your performers never haspirate the 



k 



289 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

haitch in sich vords for instance as hink and hoats, and 
leave out the w in wice, wanity you know ; and make nothink 
of homittin the h in somethink/' 

There is much more in the same stjde, but, perhaps, this 
may suffice. I have given this passage chiefly because it 
affords an example of the manner in which the generality 
of Americans are accustomed to speak of English pronuncia- 
tion and phraseology. 

It must be remembered, however, here and every where, 
that this phrase, "the Americans," does not include the in- 
structed and travelled portion of the community. 

It would be absurd to swell my little volumes with ex- 
tracts in proof of the veracity of their contents, but having 
spoken of the taste of their lighter works, and also of the 
general tone of manners, I cannot forbear inserting a page 
from an American annual (The Token), which purports to 
give a scene from fashionable life. It is part of a dialogue 
between a young lady of the ^'highest standing" and her 
* 'tutor," who is moreover her lover, though not yet acknowl- 
edged. 

** And so you won't tell me,' she said, *what has come 
over you, and why you look as grave and sensible as a 
Dictionary, when, by general consent, even mine, "motley's 
the only wear ?" ' 

'* Am I so grave. Miss Blair V 

** Are you so grave. Miss Blair ? One would think I had 
not got my lesson to-day. Pray, sir, has the black ox trod 
upon your toe since we parted ?' 

"Philip tried to laugh, but he did not succeed ; he bit his 
lip and was silent. 

** *I am under orders to entertain you, Mr. Blondel, and 
if my poor brain can be made to gird this fairy isle, I shall 
certainly be obedient. So I begin with playing the leech. 
What ails you, sir?* 

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" *Miss Blair !' he was going to remonstrate. 

" *Miss Blair ! Now, pitty, I'm a quack ! for whip me, if 
I know whether Miss Blair is a fever or an ague. How did 
you catch it, sir?' 

" 'Really, Miss Blair—* 

** 'Nay, I see you don't like doctoring; I give over, and 
now I'll be sensible. It's a fine day, Mr. Blondel.' 

" 'Very.' 

** *A pleasant lane, this, to walk in, if one's company were 
agreeable.* 

"'Does Mr. Skefton stay long?' asked Philip, abruptly. 

** *No one knows.' 

" 'Indeed! are you so ignorant?' 

" 'And why does your wisdom ask that question ?' " 

In no society in the world can the advantage of travel be 
so conspicuous as in America. In other countries a tone of 
unpretending simplicity can more than compensate for the 
absence of enlarged views or accurate observation; but this 
tone is not to be found in America, or if it be, it is only 
among those who, having looked at that insignificant portion 
of the world not included in the Union, have learnt to know 
how much is still unknown within the mighty part which is. 
For the rest, they all declare, and do in truth believe, that 
they only, among the sons of men, have wit and wisdom, and 
that one of their exclusive privileges is that of speaking 
English elegantly. There are two reasons for this latter 
persuasion; the one is, that the great majority have never 
heard any English but their own, except from the very low- 
est of the Irish ; and the other, that those who have chanced 
to find themselves in the society of the few educated Eng- 
lish who have visited America, have discovered that there is 
a marked difference between their phrases and accents and 
those to which they have been accustomed, whereupon they 

291 



DOMESTIC MANNEES 

have, of course, decided that no Englishman can speak 
English. 

The reviews of America contain some good clear-Keaded 
articles; but I sought in vain for the playful vivacity and 
the keenly-cutting satire, whose sharp edge, however painful 
to the patient, is of such high utility in lopping off the 
excrescences of bad taste, and levelling to its native clay 
the heavy growth of dulness. Still less could I find any 
trace of that graceful familiarity of learned allusion and 
general knowledge which mark the best European reviews, 
and which make one feel in such perfectly good company 
while perusing them. But this is a tone not to be found either 
in the writings or conversation of Americans; as distant 
from pedantry as from ignorance, it is not learning itself, 
but the effect of it; and so pervading and subtle is its in- 
fluence, that it may be traced in the festive halls and gay 
drawing rooms of Europe as certainly as in the cloistered 
library or student's closet; it is, perhaps, the last finish of 
highly-finished society. 

A late American Quarterly has an article on a work of 
Dr. Von Schmidt Phiseldek, from which I made an extract, 
as a curious sample of the dreams they love to batten on. 

Dr. Von Phiseldek (not Fiddlestick), who is not only a 
doctor of philosophy, but a knight of Dannebrog to boot, 
has never been in America, but he has written a prophecy, 
showing that the United States must and will govern the 
whole world, because they are so very big, and have so 
much uncultivated territory; he prophesies that an union 
will take place between North and South America, which 
will give a death-blow to Europe, at no distant period; 
though he modestly adds, that he does not pretend to desig- 
nate the precise period at which this will take place. This 
Danish prophecy, as may be imagined, enchants the re- 
viewer. He exhorts all people to read Dr. Phiseldek's 

292 



I OFTHEAMERICANS 

book, because "nothing but good can come of such con- 
templations of the future, and because it is eminently 
calculated to awaken the most lofty anticipations of the 
destiny which awaits them, and will serve to impress upon 
the nation the necessity of being prepared for such high 
destiny." In another place the reviewer bursts out, "Amer- 
ica, young as she is, has become already the beacon, the 
patriarch of the struggling nations of the world;'* and after- 
wards adds, "It would be departing from the natural order 
of things, and the ordinary operations of the great scheme 
of Providence, it would be shutting our ears to the voice 
of experience, and our eyes to the inevitable connexion of 
causes and their eiFects, were we to reject the extreme 
probability, not to say moral certainty, that the old world 
is destined to receive its influences in future from the new." 
There are twenty pages of this article, but I will only give 
one passage more ; it is an instance of the sort of reasoning 
by which American citizens persuade themselves that the 
glory of Europe is, in reality, her reproach. "Wrapped 
up in a sense of his superiority, the European reclines at 
home, shining in his borrowed plumes, derived from the 
product of every corner of the earth, and the industry of 
every portion of its inhabitants, with which his own natural 
resources would never have invested him, he continues 
revelling in enjoyments which nature has denied him.*' 

The American Quarterly deservedly holds the highest 
place in their periodical literature, and, therefore, may be 
fairly quoted as striking the key-note for the chorus of 
public opinion. Surely it is nationality rather than patriot- 
ism which leads it thus to speak in scorn of the successful 
efforts of enlightened nations to win from every corner of 
the earth the riches which nature has scattered over it. 

The incorrectness of the press is very great; they make 

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DOMESTIC MANNERS 

strange work in the reprints of French and Italian; and 
the Latin_, I suspect, does not fare much better : I believe 
they do not often meddle with Greek. 

With regard to the fine arts, their paintings, I think, 
are quite as good, or rather better, than might be expected 
from the patronage they receive; the wonder is that any 
man can be found with courage enough to devote himself 
to a profession in which he has so little chance of finding 
a maintenance. The trade of a carpenter opens an in- 
finitely better prospect; and this is so well known, that 
nothing but a genuine passion for the art could beguile 
any one to pursue it. The entire absence of every means 
of improvement, and effectual study, is unquestionably the 
cause why those who manifest this devotion cannot ad- 
vance farther. I heard of one young artist, whose circum- 
stances did not permit his going to Europe, but who being 
nevertheless determined that his studies should, as nearly 
as possible, resemble those of the European academies, was 
about to commence drawing the human figure, for which 
purpose he had provided himself with a thin silk dress, in 
which to clothe his models, as no one of any station, he said, 
could be found who would submit to sit as a model without 
clothing. 

It was at Alexandria that I saw what I consider as the 
best picture by an American artist that I met with. The 
subject was Hagar and Ishmael. It had recently arrived 
from Rome, where the painter, a young man of the name 
of Chapman, had been studying for three years. His 
^ mother told me that he was twenty-two years of age, and 
passionately devoted to the art; should he, on returning to 
his country, receive sufficient encouragement to keep his 
ardour and his industry alive, I think I shall hear of him 

again. 

•X- * * * •«• * «r * * 

y^ Much is said about the universal diffusion of education 

294 



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in America^ and a vast deal of genuine admiration is felt 
and expressed at the progress of mind throughout the 
Union. They believe themselves in all sincerity to have sur- 
passed^ to be surpassing, and to be about to surpass, the 
whole earth in the intellectual race. I am aware that not 
a single word can be said, hinting a different opinion, which 
will not bring down a transatlantic anathema on my head; 
yet the subject is too interesting to be omitted. Before I 
left England I remember listening, with much admiration, 
to an eloquent friend, who deprecated our system of public 
education, as confining the various and excursive faculties of 
our children to one beaten path, paying little or no atten- 
tion to the peculiar powers of the individual. 

This objection is extremely plausible, but doubts of its 
intrinsic value must, I think, occur to every one who has 
marked the result of a different system throughout the 
United States. 

From every inquiry I could make, and I took much pains 
to obtain accurate information, it appeared that much is 
attempted, but very little beyond reading, writing, and 
book-keeping, is thoroughly acquired. Were we to read a 
prospectus of the system pursued in any of our public 
schools, and that of a iirst-rate seminary in America, we 
should be struck by the confined scholastic routine of the 
former, when compared to the varied and expansive scope 
of the latter; but let the examination go a little farther, 
and I believe it will be found that the old-fashioned school 
discipline of England has produced something higher, and 
deeper too, than that which roars so loud, and thunders in 
the index. 

They will not afford to let their young men study till 
two or three and twenty, and it is therefore declared, ex 
cathedra Americana, to be unnecessary. At sixteen, often 
much earlier, education ends, and money-making begins; 

295 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

the idea that more learning is necessary than can be ac- 
quired by that time, is generally ridiculed as obsolete 
monkish bigotry; added to this, if the seniors willed a more 
prolonged discipline, the juniors would refuse submission. 
When the money-getting begins, leisure ceases, and all of 
lore which can be acquired afterwards, is picked up from 
novels, magazines, and newspapers. 

At what time can the taste be formed } How can a cor- 
rect and polished style, even of speaking, be acquired? or 
when can the fruit of the two thousand years of past think- 
ing be added to the native growth of American intellect.'* 
These are the tools, if I may so express myself, which our 
elaborate system of school discipline puts into the hands of 
our scholars; possessed of these, they may use them in 
whatever direction they please afterwards, they can never 
be an incumbrance. 

No people appear more anxious to excite admiration and 
receive applause than the Americans, yet none take so 
little trouble, or make so few sacrifices to obtain it. This 
many answer among themselves, but it will not with the 
rest of the world; individual sacrifices must be made, and 
national economy enlarged, before America can compete 
with the old world in taste, learning, and liberality. 

The reception of General Lafayette is the one single 
instance in which the national pride has overcome the na- 
tional thrift; and this was clearly referable to the one 
single feeling of enthusiasm of which they appear capable, 
namely, the triumph of their successful struggle for na- 
tional independence. But though this feeling will be uni- 
versally acknowledged as a worthy and lawful source of 
triumph and of pride, it will not serve to trade upon for 
ever, as a fund of glory and high station among the na- 
tions. Their fathers were colonists; they fought stoutly, 
and became an independent people. Success and admira- 

296 



OF THE AMERICANS 

tion, even the admiration of those whose yoke they had 
broken, cheered them while living, still sheds a glory round 
their remote and untitled sepulchres, and will illumine the 
page of their history for ever. 

Their children inherit the independence; they inherit too 
the honour of being the sons of brave fathers ; but this will 
not give them the reputation at which they aim, of being 
scholars and gentlemen, nor will it enable them to sit down 
for evermore to talk of their glory, while they drink mint 
julep and chew tobacco, swearing by the beard of Jupiter 
(or some other oath) that they are very graceful, and agree- 
able, and, moreover, abusing every body who does not cry 
out Amen! 

To doubt that talent and mental power of every kind 
exist in America would be absurd ; why should it not ? But 
in taste and learning they are woefully deficient; and it is 
this which renders them incapable of graduating a scale by 
which to measure themselves. Hence arises that overween- 
ing complacency and self-esteem, both national and individ- 
ual, which at once renders them so extremely obnoxious to 
ridicule, and so peculiarly restive under it. 

If they will scorn the process by which other nations have 
become what they avowedly intend to be, they must rest 
satisfied with the praise and admiration they receive from 
each other; and turning a deaf ear to the criticisms of the 
old world, consent to be their "own prodigious great re- 
ward." 

Alexandria has its churches, chapels, and conventicles as 
abundantly, in proportion to its size, as any city in the 
Union. I visited most of them, and in the Episcopal and 
Catholic heard the services performed quietly and rever- 
ently. 

The best sermon, however, that I listened to, was in a 

297 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

Methodist church, from the mouth of a Pequot Indian. It 
was impossible not to be touched by the simple sincerity of 
this poor man. He gave a picture frightfully eloquent of 
the decay of his people under the united influence of the 
avarice and intemperance of the white man. He described 
the effect of the religious feeling which had recently found 
its way among them as most salutary. The purity of his 
moral feeling, and the sincerity of his sympathy with his 
forest brethren, made it unquestionable that he must be the 
most valuable priest who could officiate for them. His 
English was very correct, and his pronunciation but 
slightly tinctured by native accent. 

* * -x- -x- * -x- -X- * 

While we were still in the neighbourhood of Washington, 
a most violent and unprecedented schism occurred in the 
cabinet. The four secretaries of State all resigned, leaving 
General Jackson to manage the queer little state barge 
alone. 

Innumerable contradictory statements appeared upon this 
occasion in the papers, and many a cigar was thrown aside, 
ere half consumed, that the disinterested politician might 
give breath to his cogitations on this extraordinary event; 
but not all the eloquence of all the smokers, nor even the 
ultra diplomatic expositions which appeared from the seced- 
ing secretaries themselves, could throw an}^ light on the 
mysterious business. It produced, however, the only tolera- 
ble caricature I ever saw in the country. It represents the 
President seated alone in his cabinet, wearing a look of 
much discomfiture, and making great exertions to detain one 
of four rats, who are running off, by placing his foot on the 
tail. The rats' heads bear a very sufficient resemblance to 
the four ex-ministers. General Jackson, it seems, had re- 
quested Mr. Van Buren, the Secretary of State, to remain 

298 



OF THE AMERICANS 

in office till his place was supplied; this gave occasion to a 
bon mot from his son, who, being asked when his father 
would be in New York, replied, "When the President takes 
off his foot/* 



299 



CHAPTER XXX 

Journey to 'New York — Delaware River — Stage- 
coach — City of New York— Collegiate Institute 
for Young Ladies — Theatres — Puhlic Garden — 
Churches — Morris Canal — Fashions — Carriages 

At lengthy spite of the lingering pace necessarily attend- 
ing consultations, and arrangements across the Atlantic, | 
our plans were finally settled: the coming spring was to ■ 
show us New York and Niagara, and the early summer was 
to convey us home. 

No sooner did the letter arrive which decided this, than 
be began our preparations for departure. We took our last 
voyage on the Potomac, we bade a last farewell to Virginia, 
and gave a last day to some of our kind friends near Wash- 
ington, ill 

The spring, though slow and backward, was sufficiently 
advanced to render the journey pleasant; and though the 
road from Washington to Baltimore was less brilliant in 
foliage than when I had seen it before, it still had much 
of beauty. The azaleas were in full bloom, and the delicate 
yellow blossom of the sassafras almost rivalled its fruit in 
beauty. 

At Baltimore we again embarked on a gigantic steam- 
boat, and reached Philadelphia in the middle of the night. 
Here we changed our boat, and found time, before starting 
in the morning, to take a last look at the Doric and Corin- 
thian porticos of the two celebrated temples dedicated to 
Mammon. 

The Delaware River, above Philadelphia, still flows 
through a landscape too level for beauty, but it is rendered 

SOO 



OP THE AMERICANS 

interesting by a succession of gentlemen's seats, which, if 
less elaborately finished in architecture, and garden grounds, 
than the lovely villas on the Thames, are still beautiful ob- 
jects to gaze upon as you float rapidly past on the broad 
silvery stream that washes their lawns. They present a pic- 
ture of wealth and enjoyment that accords well with the 
noble city to which they are an appendage. One mansion 
arrested our attention, not only from its being more than 
usually large and splendid, but from its having the monu- 
ment which marked the family resting-place, rearing itself 
in all the gloomy grandeur of black and white marble, ex- 
actly opposite the door of entrance. 

In Virginia and Maryland we had remarked that almost 
every family mansion had its little grave yard, sheltered by 
locust and cypress trees ; but this decorated dwelling of the 
dead seemed rather a melancholy ornament in the grounds. 

We had, for a considerable distance, a view of the dwell- 
ing of Joseph Bonaparte, which is situated on the New Jer- 
sey shore, in the midst of an extensive tract of land, of 
which he is the proprietor. 

Here the ex-monarch has built several houses, which are 
occupied by French tenants. The country is very flat, but a 
terrace of two sides has been raised, commanding a fine 
reach of the Delaware River ; at the point where this terrace 
forms a right angle, a lofty chapel has been erected, which 
looks very much like an observatory; I admired the inge- 
nuity with which the Catholic prince had united his religion 
and his love of a fine terrestrial prospect. The highest part 
of the building presents, in every direction, the appearance 
of an immense cross; the transept, if I may so express it, 
being formed by the projection of an ample balcony, which 
surrounds a tower. 

A Quaker gentleman, from Philadelphia, exclaimed, as 
he gazed on the mansion, "There we see a monument of 

301 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

fallen royalty ! Strange ! that dethroned kings should seek 
and find their best strong-hold in a Republic." 

There was more of philosopy than of scorn in his accent^ 
and his countenance was the symbol of gentleness and be- 
nevolence; but I overheard many unquakerlike jokes from 
others, as to the comfortable assurance a would-be king must 
feel of a faithful alliance between his head and shoulders. 

At Trenton, the capital of New Jersey, we left our 
smoothly-gliding comfortable boat for the most detestable 
stage-coach that ever Christian built to dislocate the joints 
of his fellow-men. Ten of these torturing machines were 
crammed full of the passengers who left the boat with us. 
The change in our movement was not more remarkable than 
that which took place in the tempers and countenances of 
our fellow-travellers. Gentlemen who had lounged on sofas, 
and balanced themselves in chairs, all the way from Phila- 
delphia, with all the conscious fascinations of stiff stays and 
neck-cloths, which, while doing to death the rash beauties 
who ventured to gaze, seemed but a whalebone panoply to 
guard the wearer, these pretty youths so guarded from with- 
out, so sweetly at peace within, now crushed beneath their 
armour, looked more like victims on the wheel, than dandies 
armed for conquest; their whalebones seemed to enter into 
their souls, and every face grew grim and scowling. The 
pretty ladies, too, with their expansive bonnets, any one of 
which might handsomely have filled the space allotted to 
three, — ^how sad the change! I almost fancied they must 
have been of the race of Undine, and that it was only when 
they heard the splashing of water that they could smile. As 
I looked into the altered eyes of my companions, I was 
tempted to ask, "Look I as cross as you ?" Indeed, I believe 
that, if possible, I looked crosser still, for the roads and the 
vehicle together were quite too much for my philosophy. 

At length, however, we found ourselves alive on board 

302 



OF THE AMEEICANS 

the boat which was to convey us down the Raritan River 
to New York. 

We fully intended to have gone to bed, to heal our bones, 
on entering the steam-boat, but the sight of a table neatly 
spread determined us to go to dinner instead. Sin and 
shame would it have been, indeed, to have closed our eyes 
upon the scene which soon opened before us. I have never 
seen the bay of Naples, I can therefore make no comparison, 
but my imagination is incapable of conceiving any thing of 
the kind more beautiful than the harbour of New York. 
Various and lovely are the objects which meet the eye on 
every side, but the naming them would only be to give a list 
of words, without conveying the faintest idea of the scene. 
I doubt if ever the pencil of Turner could do it justice, 
bright and glorious as it rose upon us. We seemed to enter 
the harbour of New York upon waves of liquid gold, and as 
we darted past the green isles which rise from its bosom, 
like guardian sentinels of the fair city, the setting sun 
stretched his horizontal beams farther and farther at each 
moment, as if to point out to us some new glory in the land- 
scape. 

New York, indeed, appeared to us, even when we saw it 
by a soberer light, a lovely and a noble city. To us who had 
been so long travelling through half-cleared forests, and 
sojourning among an **I'm-as-good-as-you" population, it 
seemed, perhaps, more beautiful, more splendid, and more 
refined than it might have done, had we arrived there direct- 
ly from London; but making every allowance for this, I 
must still declare that I think New York one of the finest 
cities I ever saw, and as much superior to every other in the 
Union (Philadelphia not excepted), as London to Liver- 
pool, or Paris to Rouen. Its advantages of position are, 
perhaps, unequalled any where. Situated on an island, 
which I think it will one day cover, it rises, like Venice, from 

303 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

the sea, and like that fairest of cities in the days of her 
glory, receives into its lap tribute of all the riches of the 
earth. 

The southern point of Manhattan Island divides the 
waters of the harbour into the north and east rivers ; on this 
point stands the city of New York, extending from river to 
river, and running northward to the extent of three or four 
miles. I think it covers nearly as much ground as Paris, 
but is much less thickly peopled. The extreme point is 
fortified towards the sea by a battery, and forms an admira- 
ble point of defense ; but in these piping days of peace, it is 
converted into a public promenade, and one more beautiful, 
I should suppose, no city could boast. From hence com- 
mences the splendid Broadway, as the fine avenue is called, 
which runs through the whole city. This noble street may 
vie with any I ever saw, for its length and breadth, its hand- 
some shops, neat awnings, excellent trottoir, and well- 
dressed pedestrians. It has not the crowded glitter of Bond 
Street equipages, nor the gorgeous fronted palaces of Re- 
gent Street; but it is magnificent in its extent, and orna- 
mented by several handsome buildings, some of them sur- 
rounded by grass and trees. The Park in which stands the 
noble city-hall, is a very fine area. I never found that the 
most graphic description of a city could give me an^ feeling 
of being there; and even if others have the power, I am 
very sure I have not, of setting churches and squares, and 
long drawn streets, before the mind's eye. I will not, there- 
fore, attempt a detailed description of this great metropolis 
of the new world, but will only say that during the seven 
weeks we stayed there, we always found something new to 
see and to admire; and were it not so very far from all the 
old-world things which cling about the heart of an Euro- 
pean, I should say that I never saw a city more desirable as 
a residence. 



OF THE AMERICANS 

The dwelling houses of the higher classes are extremely 
i handsome, and very richly furnished. Silk or satin furni- 
ture is as often, or oftener, seen than chintz; the mirrors 
are as handsome as in London ; the chefFoniers, slabs, and 
marble tables as elegant; and in addition, they have all the 
pretty tasteful decoration of French porcelaine, and or-molu 
in much greater abundance, because at a much cheaper rate. 
Every part of their houses is well carpeted, and the exterior 
finishing, such as steps, railings, and door-frames, are very 
j superior. Almost every house has handsome green blinds 
ion the outside; balconies are not very general, nor do the 
houses display, externally, so many flowers as those of Paris 
and London; but I saw many rooms decorated within, ex- 
actly like those of an European petite maitresse. Little 
tables, looking and smelling like flower-beds, portfolios, 
nick-nacks, bronzes, busts, cameos, and alabaster vases, 
illustrated copies of lady-like rhymes bound in silk, and, in 
short, all the pretty coxcomalities of the drawing-room scat- 
,tered about with the same profuse and studied negligence 
as with us. 

Hudson Square and its neighbourhood is, I believe, the 
most fashionable part of the town; the square is beautiful, 
excellently well planted with a great variety of trees, and 
lOnly wanting our frequent and careful mowing to make it 
equal to any square in London. The iron railing which sur- 
rounds this enclosure is as high and as handsome as that of 
the Tuileries, and it will give some idea of the care be- 
stowed on its decoration, to know that the gravel for the 
walks was conveyed by barges from Boston, not as ballast, 
but as freight. 

The great defect in the houses is their extreme uniformity 
—when you have seen one, you have seen all. Neither do 
I quite like the arrangement of the rooms. In nearly all the 
Liouses the dining and drawing-rooms are on the same floor, 

S05 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

with ample folding doors between them; when thrown to' 
gether they certainly make a very noble apartment; but nc 
doors can be barrier sufficient between dining and drawing- 
rooms. Mixed dinner parties of ladies and gentlemen^ how- 
ever, are very rare_, which is a great defect in the society: 
not only as depriving them of the most social and hospitable 
manner of meeting, but as leading to frequent dinner parties 
of gentlemen without ladies, which certainly does not con-i 
duce to refinement. 

The evening parties, excepting such as are expressly for! 
young people, are chiefly conversational; we were too latel 
in the season for large parties, but we saw enough to con- 
vince us that there is society to be met with in New York 
which would be deemed delightful any where. Cards arf'i 
very seldom used; and music, from their having very litthj 
professional aid at their parties, is seldom, I believe, as 
good as what is heard at private concerts in London. 

The Americans have certainly not the same besoin of bein^ 
amused, as other people ; they may be the wiser for this, per- 
haps, but it makes them less agreeable to a looker-on. 

There are three theatres at New York, all of which w( 
visited. The Park Theatre is the only one licensed bj| 
fashion, but the Bowery is infinitely superior in beauty; i1' 
is indeed as pretty a theatre as I ever entered, perfect as tc 
size and proportion, elegantly decorated, and the scenerj 
and machinery equal to any in London, but it is not thf 
fashion. The Chatham is so utterly condemned by hon ton, 
that it requires some courage to decide upon going there ; 
nor do I think my curiosity would have penetrated so far, 
had I not seen Miss Mitford's Rienzi advertised there. H 
was the first opportunity I had had of seeing it played, and 
spite of very indifferent acting, I was delighted. The 
interest must have been great, for till the curtain fell, I sa\^ 
not one quarter of the queer things around me: then I ob- 

B06 



OF THE AMERICANS 

served in the front row of a dress-box a lady performing the 
oiost maternal office possible; several gentlemen without 
their coats, and a general air of contempt for the decencies 
af life_, certainly more than usually revolting. 

At the Park Theatre I again saw the American Roscius, 
Mr. Forrest. He played the part of Damon_, and roared, I 
thought, very unlike a nightingale. I cannot admire this 
celebrated performer. 

Another night we saw Cinderella there; Mrs. Austin was 
;he prima donna, and much admired. The piece was ex- 
tremely well got up, and on this occasion we saw the Park 
Theatre to advantage, for it was filled with well-dressed 
company; but still we saw many "yet unrazored lips" pol- 
luted with the grim tinge of the hateful tobacco, and heard, 
ivithout ceasing, the spitting, which of course is its consc- 
ience. If their theatres had the orchestra of the Feydeau, 
and a choir of angels to boot, I could find but little pleasure, 
30 long as they were followed by this running accompani- 
oaent of thorough base. 

Whilst at New York, the prospectus of a fashionable 
boarding school was presented to me. I made some extracts 
from it, as a specimen of the enlarged scale of instruction 
jproposed for young females. 

Brooklyn Collegiate Institute 

for Young Ladies, 

Brooklyn Heights, opposite the City of 

New York. 

JUNIOR DEPARTMENT. 

Sixth Class, 

Latin Grammar, Liber Primus; Jacob's Latin Reader, 
(first part) ; Modern Geography ; Intellectual and Practical 

^07 



^i 



DOMESTIC MANNEES 

Arithmetic finished; Dr. Barber's Grammar of Elocution; 
Writing, Spelling, Composition, and Vocal Music. 

Fifth Class. 

Jacob's Latin Reader, (second part) ; Roman Antiqui- 
ties, Sallust; Clark's Introduction to the Making of Latin; 
Ancient and Sacred Geography; Studies of Poetry; Short 
Treatise on Rhetoric; Map Drawing, Composition, Spelling,] 
and Vocal Music. 

Fourth Class. 

Caesar's Commentaries; first five books of Virgil's^neid ; i 
Mythology; Watts on the Mind; Political Geography,* 
(Woodbridge's large work); Natural History; Treatise on 
the Globes; Ancient History; Studies of Poetry concluded; 
English Grammar, Composition, Spelling, and Vocal Music. 

SENIOR DEPARTMENT. 
Third Class. 

Virgil, (finished); Cicero's Select Orations; Moderl 
History; Plane Geometry; Moral Philosophy; Critics 
Reading of Young's Poems; Perspective Drawing; Rheto^j 
ric; Logic, Composition and Vocal Music. 

Second Class. 

Livy; Horace, (Odes); Natural Theology; small Com- 
pend of Ecclesiastical History; Female Biography; Alge- 
bra; Natural Philosophy, (Mechanics, Hydrostatics, Pneu- 
matics, and Acoustics); Intellectual Philosophy; Evidences 
of Christianity ; Composition, and Vocal Music. 

First Class. 

Horace, (finished); Tacitus; Natural Philosophy, (Elec- 
tricity, Optics, Magnetism, Galvanism) ; Astronomy, Chem- 

S08 



OF THE AMERICANS 

istry^ Mineralogy, and Geology; Compend of Political 
Econoni}^; Composition, and Vocal Music. 

The French, Spanish, Italian, or Greek languages may 
be attended to, if required, at any time. 

The Exchange is very handsome, and ranks about mid- 
way between the heavy gloom that hangs over our London 
merchants and the light and lofty elegance which decorates 
the Bourse at Paris. The churches are plain, but very neat, 
and kept in perfect repair within and without; but I saw 
none which had the least pretension to splendour ; the Cath- 
olic Cathedral at Baltimore is the only church in America 
which has. 

At New York, as every where else, they show within, dur- 
ing the time of service, like beds of tulips, so gay, so bright, 
so beautiful, are the long rows of French bonnets and pretty 
faces; rows but rarely broken by the unribboned heads of 
the male population; the proportion is about the same as I 
have remarked elsewhere. Excepting at New York, I 
never saw the other side of the picture, but there I did. On 
the opposite side of the North River, about three miles 
higher up, is a place called Hoboken. A gentleman who 
possessed a handsome mansion and grounds there, also pos- 
sessed the right of ferry, and to render this productive, he 
has restricted his pleasure-grounds to a few beautiful acres, 
laying out the remainder simply and tastefully as a public 
walk. It is hardly possible to imagine one of greater at- 
traction; a broad belt of light underwood and flowering 
shrubs, studded at intervals with lofty forest trees, runs for 
two miles along a cliff which overhangs the matchless Hud- 
son; sometimes it feathers the rocks down to its very mar- 
gin, and at others leaves a pebbly shore, just rude enough to 
break the gentle waves, and make a music which mimics 
softly the loud chorus of the ocean. Through this beautiful 
little wood a broad well-gravelled terrace is led by every 

309 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

point which can exhibit the scenery to advantage ; narrowei 
and wider paths diverge at intervals, some into the deepei 
shadow of the woods, and some shelving gradually to the 
pretty coves below. 

The price of ©ntrance to this little Eden, is the six cents 
you pay at the ferry. We went there on a bright Sunday 
afternoon, expressly to see the humours of the place. Many 
thousand persons were scattered through the grounds; of 
these we ascertained, by repeatedly counting, that nineteen- 
twentieths were men. The ladies were at church. Often as 
the subject has pressed upon my mind, I think I never sc 
strongly felt the conviction that the Sabbath-day, the holy 
day, the day on which alone the great majority of the 
Christian world can spend their hours as they please, is ill 
passed, (if passed entirely) within brick walls, listening to 
an earth-born preacher, charm he never so wisely. 

" Oh ! how can they renounce the boundless store 
Of charms, which Nature to her vot'ries yields ! 
The warbling woodland, the resounding shore. 
The pomp of groves, and garniture of fields. 
All that the genial ray of morning gilds. 
And all that echoes to the song of even. 
All that the mountain's sheltering bosom yields. 
And all the dread magnificence of heaven; 
Oh ! how can they renounce, and hope to be forgiven !'*' | 

r 

How is it that the men of America, who are reckoned good I 
husbands and good fathers, while they themselves enjoy;; 
sufficient freedom of spirit to permit their walking forth into 
the temple of the living God, can leave those they love best 
on earth, bound in the iron chains of a most tyrannical fanat- 
icism? How can they breathe the balmy air, and not think; 
of the tainted atmosphere so heavily weighing upon breasts 
still dearer than their own? How can they gaze upon the 

SIO 



OP THE AMERICANS 

blossoms of the spring, and not remember the fairer cheeks 
Df their young daughters, waxing pale, as they sit for long 
jultry hours, immured with hundreds of fellow victims, lis- 
;ening to the roaring vanities of a preacher, canonized by a 
3ollege of old women ? They cannot think it needful to sal- 
tation, or they would not withdraw themselves. Wherefore 
s it ? Do they fear these self-elected, self-ordained priests, 
md offer up their wives and daughters to propitiate them? 
3r do they deem their hebdomadal freedom more complete, 
because their wives and daughters are shut up four or five 
imes in the day at church or chapel? It is true, that at 
Hoboken, as every where else, there are reposoires, which as 
TOM pass them, blast the sense for a moment, by reeking 
forth the fumes of whiskey and tobacco, and it may be that 
;hese cannot be entered with a wife or daughter. The pro- 
Drietor of the grounds, however, has contrived with great 
;aste to render these abominations not unpleasing to the 
;ye; there is one in particular, which has quite the air of a 
jrrecian temple, and did they drink wine instead of whiskey, 
t might be inscribed to Bacchus; but in this particular, as 
n many others, the ancient and modern Republics differ. 

It is impossible not to feel, after passing one Sunday in 
;he churches and chapels of New York, and the next in the 
gardens of Hoboken, that the thousands of well-dressed 
nen you see enjoying themselves at the latter, have made 
)ver the thousands of well-dressed women you saw exhibited 
it the former, into the hands of the priests, at least, for the 
lay. The American people arrogate to themselves a char- 
icter of superior morality and religion, but this division of 
:heir hours of leisure does not give me a favourable idea of 
nther. 

! I visited all the exhibitions in New York. The Medici of 
;he Republic must exert themselves a little more before these 
3an become even respectable. The worst of the business is, 

Sll 



DOMESTIC MANNEES 

that with the exception of about half a dozen individuals^ i 
the good citizens are more than contented, they are de- p 
lighted. 

The newspaper lungs of the Republic breathe forth praise 
and triumph, nay, almost pant with ecstasy in speaking of 
their native chef d'oeuvres. I should be hardly believed were 
I to relate the instances which fell in my way, of the utter i 
ignorance respecting pictures to be found among persons of 
the first standing in society. Often where a liberal spirit 
exists, and a wish to patronise the fine arts is expressed, it | 
is joined to a profundity of ignorance on the subject almost ; 
inconceivable. A doubt as to the excellence of their artists 
is very nervously received, and one gentleman, with much 
civility, told me, that at the present era, all the world were | 
aware that competition was pretty well at an end between ! 
our two nations, and that a little envy might naturally be ex- I 
pected to mix with the surprise with which the mother coun- j 
try beheld the distance at which her colonies were leaving 
her behind them. 

I must, however, do the few artists with whom I became 
acquainted, the justice to say, that their own pretensions 
are much more modest than those of their patrons for them. , 
I have heard several confess and deplore their ignorance of 
drawing, and have repeatedly remarked a sensibility to the 
merit of European artists, though perhaps only known by 
engravings, and a deference to their authority, which showed j 
a genuine feeling for the art. In fact, I think that there ii' I 
a very considerable degree of natural talent for painting in 
America, but it has to make its way through darkness and 
thick night. When an academy is founded, their first care 
is to hang the walls of its exhibition room with all the un- 
utterable trash that is offered to them. No living models 
are sought for; no discipline as to the manner of study is . 
enforced. Boys who know no more of human form, than 

312 



r 



OF THE AMERICANS 



they do of the eyes^ nose, and mouth in the moon, begin 
painting portraits. If some of them would only throw 
away their palettes for a year, and learn to draw; if they 
would attend anatomical lectures, and take notes, not in 
words, but in forms, of joints and muscles, their exhibitions 
would soon cease to be so utterly below criticism. 

The most interesting exhibition open when I was there 
was, decidedly. Colonel Trumbull's ; and how the patriots of 
America can permit this truly national collection to remain 
a profitless burden on the hands of the artist, it is difficult 
to understand. Many of the sketches are masterly; but like 
his illustrious countryman. West, his sketches are his 
chef d'ceuvres. 

I can imagine nothing more perfect than the interior of 
the public institutions of New York. There is a practical 
good sense in all their arrangements that must strike for- 
eigners very forcibly. The Asylum for the Destitute oiFers 
a hint worth taking. It is dedicated to the reformation of 
youthful off'enders of both sexes, and it is as admirable in 
the details of its management as in its object. Every part 
of the institution is deeply interesting ; but there is a differ- 
ence very remarkable between the boys and the girls. The 
boys are, I think, the finest set of lads I ever saw brought 
together; bright-looking, gay, active, and full of intelli- 
gence. The girls are exactly the reverse ; heavy, listless, in- 
different, and melancholy. In conversing with the gentle- 
man who is the general superintendent of the establishment, 
I made the remark to him, and he told me that the reality 
corresponded with the appearance. All of them had been 
detected in some act of dishonesty; but the boys, when re- 
moved from the evil influence which had led them so to use 
their ingenuity, rose like a spring when a pressure is with- 
drawn; and feeling themselves once more safe from danger 
and from shame, hope and cheerfulness animated every 

313 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

countenance. But the poor girls^ on the contrary, can hardly 
look up again. They are as different as an oak and a lily 
after a storm. The one, when the fresh breeze blows over it, 
shakes the raindrops from its crest, and only looks the 
brighter; the other, its silken leaves once soiled, shrinks 
from the eye, and is levelled to the earth for ever. 

We spent a delightful day in New Jersey, in visiting, 
with a most agreeable party, the inclined planes, which are 
used instead of locks on the Morris canal. 

This is a very interesting work; it is one among a thou- 
sand which prove the people of America to be the most en- 
terprising in the world. I was informed that this important 
canal, which connects the waters of the Hudson and the 
Delaware, is a hundred miles long, and in this distance over- 
comes a variation of level amounting to sixteen hundred 
feet. Of this, fourteen hundred are achieved by inclined 
planes. The planes average about sixty feet of perpendic- 
ular lift each, and are to support about forty tons. The 
time consumed in passing them is twelve minutes for one 
hundred feet of perpendicular rise. The expense is less 
than a third of what locks would be for surmounting the 
same rise. If we set about any more canals, this may be 
worth attending to. 

This Morris canal is certainly an extraordinary work ; it not 
only varies its level sixteen hundred feet, but at one point 
runs along the side of a mountain at thirty feet above the 
tops of the highest buildings in the town of Paterson, below; 
at another it crosses the falls of the Passaic in a stone aque- 
duct sixty feet above the water in the river. This noble 
work, in a great degree, owes its existence to the patriotic 
and scientific energy of Mr. Cadwallader Colden. 

There is no point in the national character of the Ameri- 
cans which commands so much respect as the boldness and 

314. 



OF THE AMERICANS 

energy with which public works are undertaken and carried 
through. Nothing stops them if a profitable result can be 
fairly hoped for. It is this which has made cities spring up 
amidst the forests with such inconceivable rapidity; and 
could they once be thoroughly persuaded that any point of 
the ocean had a hoard of dollars beneath it^ I have not the 
slightest doubt that in about eighteen months we should see 
a snug covered rail-road leading direct to the spot. 

I was told at New York^ that in many parts of the state it 
iwas usual to pay the service of the Presbyterian ministers in 
the following manner. Once a year a day is fixed, on which 
some member of every family in a congregation meets at 
their minister's house in the afternoon. They each bring an 
offering (according to their means) of articles necessary for 
hoilse-keeping. The poorer members leave their contribu- 
tions in a large basket, placed for the purpose, close to the 
door of entrance. Those of more importance, and more 
calculated to do honour to the piety of the donors, are car- 
ried into the room where the company is assembled. Sugar, 
coffee, tea, cheese, barrels of flour, pieces of Irish linen, sets 
of china and of glass, were among the articles mentioned to 
me as usually making parts of these offerings. After the 
party is assembled, and the business of giving and receiving 
is dispatched, tea, coffee, and cakes are handed round; but 
these are not furnished at any expense either of trouble or 
money to the minister, for selected ladies of the congrega- 
tion take the whole arrangement upon themselves. These 
meetings are called spinning visits. 

Another New York custom, which does not seem to have 
so reasonable a cause, is the changing house once a year. 
On the 1st of May the city of New York has the appearance 
of sending off a population flying from the plague, or of a 
town which had surrendered on condition of carrying away 

315 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

I 
all their goods and chattels. Rich furniture and ragged 

furniture, carts, waggons, and drays, ropes, canvas, and 
straw, packers, porters, and draymen, white, yellow, and 
black, occupy the streets from east to west, from north to 
south, on this day. Every one I spoke to on the subject 
complained of this custom as most annoying, but all assured 
me it was unavoidable, if you inhabit a rented house. More 
than one of my New York friends have built or bought 
houses solely to avoid this annual inconvenience. 

There are a great number of negroes in New York, all 
free; their emancipation having been completed in 1827. 
Not even in Philadelphia, where the anti-slavery opinions 
have been the most active and violent, do the blacks appear 
to wear an air of so much consequence as they do at New 
York. They have several chapels, in which negro ministers 
officiate; and a theatre, in which none but negroes perform. 
At this theatre a gallery is appropriated to such whites as 
choose to visit it; and here only are they permitted to sit; 
following in this, with nice etiquette, and equal justice, the 
arrangement of the white theatres, in all of which is a gal- 
lery appropriated solely to the use of the blacks. I have 
often, particularly on a Sunday, met groups of negroes, 
elegantly dressed; and have been sometimes amused by ob- 
serving the very superior air of gallantry assumed by the 
men, when in attendance on their belles, to that of the whites 
in similar circumstances. On one occasion we met in Broad- 
way a young negress in the extreme of the fashion, and ac- 
companied by a black beau, whose toilet was equally 
studied; eye-glass, guard-chain, nothing was omitted; he 
walked beside his sable goddess uncovered, and with an air 
of the most tender devotion. At the window of a handsome 
house which they were passing, stood a very pretty white 
girl, with two gentlemen beside her ; but alas ! both of them 
had their hats on, and one was smoking ! 

316 



OF THE AMERICANS 

If it were not for the peculiar manner of walking, which 
distinguishes all American women, Broadway might be taken 
for a French street, where it was the fashion for very smart 
ladies to promenade. The dress is entirely French; not an 
article (except perhaps the cotton stockings) must be Eng- 
lish, on pain of being stigmatized as out of fashion. 
Every thing English is decidedly mauvais ton; English ma- 
terials, English fashions, English accent, English man- 
ner, are all terms of reproach; and to say that an unfor- 
tunate looks like an English woman, is the crudest satire 
which can be uttered. 

I remember visiting France almost immediately after we 
had made the most offensive invasion of her territory that 
can well be imagined, yet, despite the feelings which length- 
ened years of war must have engendered, it was the fashion 
to admire every thing English. I suppose family quarrels 
are more difficult to adjust; for fifteen years of peace have 
not been enough to calm the angry feelings of brother Jona- 
than towards the land of his fathers, 

"The which he hateth passing well.*' 

It is hardly needful to say that the most courteous amen- 
ity of manner distinguishes the reception given to foreigners 
by the patrician class of Americans. 

Gentlemen, in the old world sense of the term, are the 
same every where ; and an American gentleman and his fam- 
ily know how to do the Honours of their country to strangers 
of every nation, as well as any people on earth. But this 
class, though it decidedly exists, is a very small one, and 
cannot, in justice, be represented as affording a specimen of 
the whole. 

Most of the houses in New York are painted on the out- 
side, but in a manner carefully to avoid disfiguring the 

317- 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

material which it preserves : on the contrary, nothing can be 
neater. They are now using a great deal of a beautiful 
stone called Jersey freestone; it is of a warm rich brown, 
and extremely ornamental to the city wherever it has been 
employed. They have also a grey granite of great beauty. 
The trottoir paving, in most of the streets, is extremely 
good, being of large flag stones, very superior to the bricks 
of Philadelphia. 

At night the shops, which are open till very late, are bril- 
liantly illuminated with gas, and all the population seem as 
much alive as in London or Paris. This makes the solemn 
stillness of the evening hours in Philadelphia still more re- 
markable. 

There are a few trees in different parts of the city, and I 
observed many young ones planted, and guarded with much 
care ; were they more abundant it would be extremely agree- 
able, for the reflected light of their fierce summer sheds in- 
tolerable day. 

Ice is in profuse abundance; I do not imagine that there 
is a house in the city without the luxury of a piece of ice to 
cool the water, and harden the butter. 

The hackney coaches are the best in the world, but abom- 
inably dear, and it is necessary to be on the qui vive in mak- 
ing your bargain with the driver ; if you do not, he has the 
power of charging immoderately. On my first experiment 
I neglected this, and was asked two dollars and a half for an 
excursion of twenty minutes. When I referred to the waiter 
of the hotel, he asked if I had made a bargain. "No." 
"Then I expect" (with the usual look of triumph) "that the 
Yankee has been too smart for you." 

The private carriages of New York are infinitely hand- 
somer and better appointed than any I saw elsewhere; the 
want of smart liveries destroys much of the gay effect, but, 
on the whole, a New York summer equipage, with the pretty 

818 



f OF THE AMERICANS 

women and beautiful children it contains, looks extremely 
well in Broadway, and would not be much amiss any where. 
The luxury of the New York aristocracy is not confined to 
the city; hardly an acre of Manhattan Island but shows 
some pretty villa or stately mansion. The most chosen of 
these are on the north and east rivers, to whose margins their 
lawns descend. Among these, perhaps, the loveliest is one 
situated in the beautiful village of Bloomingdale ; here, 
within the space of sixteen acres, almost every variety of 
garden scenery may be found. To describe all its diversity 
of hill and dale, of wood and lawn, of rock and river, would 
be in vain ; nor can I convey an idea of it by comparison, for 
I never saw any thing like it. How far the elegant hospital- 
ity which reigns there may influence my impressions, I know 
not; but, assuredly, no spot I have ever seen dwells more 
freshly on my memory, nor did I ever find myself in a circle 
more calculated to give delight in meeting, and regret at 
parting, than that of Woodlawn. 



sig 



CHAPTER XXXI 

'Reception of Captain Basil EalVs Booh in the 

United States 

Having now arrived nearly at the end of our travels, I am 
induced, ere I conclude, again to mention what I consider as 
one of the most remarkable traits in the national character 
of the Americans; namely, their exquisite sensitiveness and 
soreness respecting every thing said or written concerning 
them. Of this, perhaps, the most remarkable example I can 
give, is the effect produced on nearly every class of readers 
by the appearance of Captain Basil Hall's "Travels in 
North America." In fact, it was a sort of moral earthquake, 
and the vibration it occasioned through the nerves of the 
Republic, from one corner of the Union to the other, was 
by no means over when I left the country in July, 1831, a 
couple of years after the shock. 

I was in Cincinnati when these volumes came out, but it 
was not till July, 1830, that I procured a copy of them. 
One bookseller to whom I applied, told me that he had had 
a few copies before he understood the nature of the work, 
but that after becoming acquainted with it, nothing should 
induce him to sell another. Other persons of his profession, 
must, however, have been less scrupulous, for the book was 
read in city, town, village, and hamlet, steam-boat, and 
stage-coach, and a sort of war-whoop was sent forth per- 
fectly unprecedented in my recollection upon any occasion 
whatever. 

It was fortunate for me that I did not procure these vol- 
umes till I had heard them very generally spoken of, for 
the curiosity I felt to know the contents of a work so vio- 

320 



OF THE AMERICANS 

lently anathematised^ led me to make inquiries which elicited 
a great deal of curious feeling. 

An ardent desire for approbation, and a delicate sensitive- 
ness under censure, have always, I believe, been considered 
as amiable traits of character; but the condition into which 
the appearance of Capt. Hall's work threw the Republic, 
shows plainly that these feelings, if carried to excess, pro- 
duce a weakness which amounts to imbecility. 

It was perfectly astonishing to hear men, who, on other 
subjects, were of sane judgment, utter their opinions upon 
this. I never heard of any instance in which the common 
sense generally found in national criticism was so over- 
thrown by passion. I do not speak of the want of justice, 
and of fair and liberal interpretation; these, perhaps, were 
hardly to be expected. Other nations have been called thin- 
skinned, but the citizens of the Union have, apparently, no 
skins at all ; they wince if a breeze blows over them, unless 
it be tempered with adulation. It was not, therefore, very 
surprising that the acute and forcible observations of a trav- 
eller they knew would be listened to, should be received 
testily. The extraordinary features of the business were, 
first, the excess of the rage into which they lashed them- 
selves; and, secondly, the puerility of the inventions by 
which they attempted to account for the severity with which 
they fancied they had been treated. 

Not content with declaring that the volumes contained no 
word of truth from beginning to end (which is an assertion 
1 heard made very nearly as often as they were mentioned), 
the whole country set to work to discover the causes why 
Capt. Hall had visited the United States, and why he had 
published his book. 

I have heard it said with as much precision and gravity 
jas if the statement had been conveyed by an official report, 
jthat Capt. Hall had been sent out by the British govern- 

321 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

ment expressly for the purpose of cliecking the growing ad-" 
miration of England for the government of the United 
States^ — that it was by a commission from the Treasury he 
had come, and that it was only in obedience to orders that 
he had found any thing to obj ect to. 

I do not give this as the gossip of a coterie; I am per- 
suaded that it is the belief of a very considerable portion of 
the country. So deep is the conviction of this singular peo- 
ple that they cannot be seen without being admired, that 
they will not admit the possibility that any one should hon- 
estly and sincerely find aught to disapprove in them, or their 
country. i 

At Philadelphia I met with a little anonymous book, writ-'l 
ten to show that Capt. Basil Hall was in no way to be de- 
pended on, for that he not only slandered the Americans, 
but was himself, in other respects, a person of very equivo- 
cal morals. One proof of this is given by a quotation of the 
following playful account of the distress occasioned by the 
want of a bell. The commentator calls it an instance of 
"shocking coarseness." j 

"One day I was rather late for breakfast, and as there' 
was no water in my jug, I set oif, post-haste, half shaved, 
half dressed, and more than half vexed, in quest of 
water, like a seaman on short allowance, hunting for 
rivulets on some unknown coast. I went up stairs, and 
down stairs, and in the course of my researches into half a 
dozen different apartments, might have stumbled on some 
lady's chamber, as the song says, which considering the 
plight I was in, would have been awkward enough." 

Another indication of this moral coarseness is pointed out 
in the passage where Capt. Hall says, he never saw a flirta- 
tion all the time he was in the Union. > 

The charge of ingratitude also was echoed from mouth 
to mouth. That he should himself bear testimony to the un- 

S22 



OF THE AMERICANS 

Varying kindness of the reception he met with, and yet find 
fault with the country, was declared on all hands to be a 
oroof of the most abominable ingratitude that it ever entered 
nto the heart of man to conceive. I once ventured before 
ibout a dozen people to ask whether more blame would not 
ittach to an author, if he suffered himself to be bribed by 
ndividual kindness to falsify facts, than if, despite all per- 
lonal considerations, he stated them truly? 

"Facts !" cried the whole circle at once, "facts ! I tell you 
;here is not a word of fact in it from beginning to end." 
I The American reviews are, many of them, I believe, well 
inown in England; I need not, therefore, quote them here, 
)ut I sometimes wondered that they, none of them, ever 
bought of translating Obadiah's curse into classic Amer- 
ican ; if they had done so, only placing (he, Basil Hall^) be- 
ween brackets instead of (he, Obadiah,) it would have 
aved them a world of trouble. 

I can hardly describe the curiosity with which I sat down 
:,t length to peruse these tremendous volumes ; still less can 
' do j ustice to my surprise at their contents. To say that I 
'ound not one exaggerated statement throughout the work, 
s by no means saying enough. It is impossible for any one 
rho knows the country not to see that Captain Hall ear- 
lestly sought out things to admire and commend. When he 
)raises, it is with evident pleasure, and when he finds fault, 
t is with evident reluctance and restraint, excepting where 
Qotives purely patriotic urge him to state roundly what it 
s for the benefit of his country should be known. 

In fact. Captain Hall saw the country to the greatest 
)ossible advantage. Furnished, of course, with letters of 
ntroduction to the most distinguished individuals, and with 
he still more influential recommendation of his own repu- 
ation, he was received in full drawing-room style and state 
'rom one end of the Union to the other. He saw the 

gS23. 



DOMESTIC M A NNEES j 

country in full dress, and had little or no opportunity of i 
judging of it unhouselled, unanointed, unannealed, with all 
its imperfections on its head, as I and my family too 
often had. 

Captain Hall had certainly excellent opportunities of . 
making himself acquainted with the form of the government 
and the laws ; and of receiving, moreover, the best oral com- 
mentary upon them, in conversation with the most distin- 
guished citizens. Of these opportunities he made excellent 
use; nothing important met his eye which did not receive 
that sort of analytical attention which an experienced and| 
philosophical traveller alone can give. This has made his 
volumes highly interesting and valuable; but I am deeply 
persuaded, that were a man of equal penetration to visit the 
United States with no other means of becoming acquainted 
with the national character than the ordinary working-day 
intercourse of life, he would conceive an infinitely lower 
idea of the moral atmosphere of the country than Captain 
Hall appears to have done ; and the internal conviction on 
my mind is strong, that if Captain Hall had not placed a 
firm restraint on himself, he must have given expression to 
far deeper indignation than any he has uttered against many 
points in the American character, with which he shows, from 
other circumstances, that he was well acquainted. His rule 
appears to have been to state just so much of the truth as 
would leave on the minds of his readers a correct impression, 
at the least cost of pain to the sensitive folks he was writing; 
about. He states his own opinions and feelings, and leaves; 
it to be inferred that he has good grounds for adopting 
them! but he spares the Americans the bitterness which a 
detail of the circumstances would have produced. 

If any one chooses to say that some wicked antipathy to( 
twelve millions of strangers is the origin of my opinion, U 
must bear it ; and were the question one of mere idle specu- 

S24 



OF THE AMERICANS 

lation, I certainly would not court the abuse I must meet for 
stating it. But it is not so. I know that among the best, 
the most pious, the most benevolent of my countrymen, 
there are hundreds, nay, I fear thousands, who conscien- 
tiously believe that a greater degree of political and re- 
ligious liberty (such as is possessed in America) would be 
beneficial for us. How often have I wished, during my 
abode in the United States, that one of these conscientious, 
but mistaken reasoners, fully possessed of his country's 
confidence, could pass a few years in the United States, 
I sufficiently among the mass of the citizens to know them, 
and sufficiently at leisure to trace effects to their causes. 
Then might we look for a statement which would teach 
these mistaken, philanthropists to tremble at every symptom 
I of democratic power among us; a statement which would 
make even our sectarians shudder at the thought of hewing 
down the Established Church, for they would be taught, 
by fearful example, to know that it was the bulwark which 
I protects us from the gloomy horrors of fanatic superstition 
on one side, and the still more dreadful inroads of infidelity 
on the other. And more than all, such a man would see 
as clear as light, that where every class is occupied in get- 
ting money, and no class in spending it, there will neither be 
leisure for worshipping the theory of honesty, nor motive 
strong enough to put its restrictive doctrines in practice.^ 
Where every man is engaged in driving hard bargains with ^ 
his fellows, where is the honoured class to be found, into 
which gentleman-like feelings, principles, and practice, are 
necessary as an introduction? 

That there are men of powerful intellect, benevolent 
hearts, and high moral feeling in America, I know: and I 
could, if challenged to do so, name individuals surpassed 
by none of any country in these qualities ; but they are ex- 
cellent, despite their institutions, not in consequence of 

S25 



DOMESTIC MANNEKS 

them. It is not by such that Captain Hall's statements are" 
called slanders,, nor is it from such that I shall meet the 
abuse which I well know these pages will inevitably dra-w 
upon me ; and I only trust I may be able to muster as much 
self-denial as my predecessor, who asserts, in his recently^ 
published "Fragments,** that he has read none of the 
American criticisms on his book. He did wisely, if he 
wished to retain an atom of his kindly feeling toward 
America; and he has, assuredly, lost but little on the score 
of information, for these criticisms, generally speaking, 
consist of mere downright personal abuse, or querulous 
complaints of his ingratitude and ill usage of them; com- 
plaints which it is quite astonishing that any persons of 
spirit could indulge in. 

The following good-humoured paragraphs from the Frag-j 
ments, must, I think, rather puzzle the Americans. Possibly 
they may think that Captain Hall is quizzing them, when 
he says he has read none of their criticisms; but I think 
there is in these passages internal evidence that he has not 
seen them. For if he had read one-fiftieth part of the 
vituperation of his Travels, which it has been my misfor- 
tune to peruse, he could hardly have brought himself to 
write what follows. 

If the Americans still refuse to shake the hand proffered 
to them in the true old John Bull spirit, they are worse folks: 
than even I take them for. j 

Captain Hall, after describing the hospitable reception he' 
formerly met with, at a boarding-house in New York, goes 
on thus: — **If our hostess be still alive, I hope she will not 
repent of having bestowed her obliging attentions on one, 
who so many years afterwards made himself, he fears, less 
popular in her land, than he could wish to be amongst a 
people to whom he owes so much, and for whom he really 
feels so much kindness. He still anxiously hopes, how- 1 

326 



OF THE AMERICANS 

iver, they will believe him when he declares, that, having 
jaid in his recent publication no more than what he con- 
icived was due to strict truth, and to the integrity of his- 
;ory, as far as his observations and opinions went, he still 
feels, as he always has, and ever must continue to feel 
:owards America, the heartiest good-will. 

"The Americans are perpetually repeating that the foun- 
iation-stone of their liberty is fixed on the doctrine, that 
;very man is free to form his own opinions, and to promul- 
gate them in candour and in moderation. Is it meant that 
!ji foreigner is excluded from these privileges? If not, may 
I ask, in what respect have I passed these limitations ? The 
(Americans have surely no fair right to be offended because 
my views differ from theirs; and yet I am told I have been 
rudely handled by the press of that country. If my motives 
are distrusted, I can only say, I am sorely belied. If I am 
mistaken, regret at my political blindness were surely more 
dignified than anger on the part of those with whom I differ ; 
and if it shall chance that I am in the right, the best con- 
firmation of the correctness of my views, in the opinion of 
indifferent persons, will perhaps be found in the soreness 
df those, who wince when the truth is spoken. 

"Yet, after all, few things would give me more real 
pleasure, than to know that my friends across the water 
would consent to take me at my word; and, considering 
v^hat I have said about them as so much public matter, which 
it truly is, agree to reckon me, in my absence, as they always 
did, when I was amongst them, and, I am sure, they would 
count me, if I went back again, as a private friend. I 
differed with them in politics, and I differ with them now 
as much as ever; but I sincerely wish them happiness in- 
dividually; and, as a nation, I shall rejoice if they prosper. 
As the Persians write, 'What can I say more.^** And I only 
hope these few words may help to make my peace with 

327 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

people who justly pride themselves on bearing no malice. 
As for myself;, I have no peace to make; for I have stu- 
diously avoided reading any of the American criticisms 
on my book^ in order that the kindly feelings I have ever 
entertained towards that country should not be ruffled. By 
this abstinence I may have lost some information^ and per- 
haps missed many opportunities of correcting erroneous 
impressions. But I set so much store by the pleasing rec- 
ollection of the journey itself, and of the hospitality with 
which my family were every where received, that whether 
it be right, or whether it be wrong, I cannot bring myself 
to read any thing which might disturb these agreeable asso- 
ciations. So let us part in peace; or, rather, let us meet 
again in cordial communication ; and if this little work shall 
find its way across the Atlantic, I hope it will be read there ; 
without reference to any thing that has passed between 
us; or, at all events, with reference only to those parts of 
our former intercourse, which are satisfactory to all par-^ 
ties.'' — Hall's Fragments, Vol. I, p. 200. '^ 

I really think it is impossible to read, not only this pas- 
sage, but many others in these delightful little volumes, 
without feeling that their author is as little likely to deserve 
the imputation of harshness and ill-will, as any man that 
ever lived. 

In reading Capt. Hall's volumes on America, the observa- 
tion which, I think, struck me the most forcibly, and which 
certainly came the most completely home to my own feel- 
ings, was the following. 

"In all my travels both amongst Heathens and amongst 
Christians, I have never encountered any people by whom 
I found it nearly so difficult to make myself understood as 
by the Americans." 

I have conversed in London and in Paris with foreigners 
of many nations, and often through the misty medium of 

328 



OF THE AMERICANS 

an idiom imperfectly understood, but I remember no in- 
stance in which I found the same difficulty in conveying 
my sentiments, my impressions, and my opinions to those 
around me, as I did in America. Whatever faith may be 
given to my assertion, no one who has not visited the coun- 
try can possibly conceive to what extent it is true. It is less 
necessary, I imagine, for the mutual understanding of per- 
sons conversing together, that the language should be the 
same, than that their ordinary mode of thinking, and habits 
of life should, in some degree, assimilate ; whereas, in point 
of fact, there is hardly a single point of sympathy between 
the Americans and us; but whatever the cause, the fact is 
certainly as I have stated it, and herein, I think, rests the 
only apology for the preposterous and undignified anger 
felt and expressed against Capt. Hall's work. They really 
cannot, even if they wished it, enter into any of his views, 
or comprehend his most ordinary feelings; and, therefore, 
they cannot believe in the sincerity of the impressions he 
describes. The candour which he expresses, and evidently 
feels, they mistake for irony, or totally distrust; his unwill- 
ingness to give pain to persons from whom he has received 
kindness, they scornfully rej ect as affectation ; and, although 
they must know right well, in their own secret hearts, how 
infinitely more they lay at his mercy than he has chosen 
to betray, they pretend, even to themselves, that he has ex- 
aggerated the bad points of their character and institutions ; 
whereas, the truth is, that he has let them off with a degree 
of tenderness which may be quite suitable for him to exer- 
cise, however little merited ; while, at the same time, he has 
most industriously magnified their merits, whenever he could 
possibly find any thing favourable. One can perfectly 
well understand why Capt. Hall's avowed Tory principles 
should be disapproved of in the United States, especially 
as (with a questionable j^olicy in a bookselling point of 

329 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

view, in these reforming times,) he volunteers a profession 
of political faith, in which, to use the Kentucky phrase, "he 
goes the whole hog," and bluntly avows, in his concluding 
chapter, that he not only holds stoutly to Church and State, 
but that he conceives the English House of Commons to 
be, if not quite perfect, at least as much so for all the re- 
quired purposes of representation as it can by possibility be 
made in practice. Such a downright thorough-going Tory 
and Anti-reformer, pretending to judge of the workings of 
the American democratical system, was naturally held to be 
a monstrous abomination, and it has been visited accord- 
ingly, both in America, and as I understand, with us also. 
The experience which Capt. Hall has acquired in visits to 
every part of the world, during twenty or thirty years, goes 
for nothing with the Radicals on either side the Atlantic: 
on the contrary, precisely in proportion to the value of 
that authority which is the result of actual observation, are 
they irritated to find its weight cast into the opposite scale. 
Had not Capt. Hall been converted by what he saw in North 
America, from the Whig faith he exhibited in his description 
of South America, his book would have been far more 
popular in England during the last two years of public ex- 
citement; it may, perhaps, be long before any justice is done 
to Capt. Hall's book in the United States, but a less time 
will probably suffice to establish its claim to attention at 
home. 



330 



f 



CHAPTER XXXII 

Journey to Niagara — Hudson — West Point — Hyde 
Park — Albany — Yankees — Trenton Falls — Roch- 
ester — Genesee Falls — Lockport 

How quickly weeks glide away in such a city as New Yorkj 
especially when you reckon among your friends some of the 
most agreeable people in either hemisphere. But we had 
still a long journey before us^ and one of the wonders of 
the world was to be seen. 

On the 30th of May we set oiF for Niagara. I had heard 
so much of the surpassing beauty of the North River, that 
I expected to be disappointed, and to find reality flat after 
description. But it is not in the power of man to paint 
with a strength exceeding that of nature, in such scenes 
as the Hudson presents. Every mile shows some new and 
startling effect of the combination of rocks, trees, and 
water; there is no interval of flat or insipid scenery, from 
the moment you enter upon the river at New York, to that 
of quitting it at Albany, a distance of 180 miles. 

For the first twenty miles the shore of New Jersey, on 
the left, off'ers almost a continued wall of trap rock, which 
from its perpendicular form, and lineal fissures, is called 
the Palisades. This wall sometimes rises to the height of a 
hundred and fifty feet, and sometimes sinks down to twenty. 
Here and there a watercourse breaks its uniformity; and 
every where the brightest foliage, in all the splendour of 
the climate and the season, fringed and chequered the dark 
barrier. On the opposite shore, Manhattan Island, with 
its leafy coronet gemmed with villas, forms a lovely contrast 
to these rocky heights. 

3sr 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

After passing Manhattan Island^ the eastern shore grad- 
ually assumes a wild and rocky character, but ever varying ; 
woods_, lawns, pastures, and towering cliffs all meet the eye 
in quick succession, as the giant steam-boat cleaves its swift 
passage up the stream. 

For several miles the voyage is one of great interest 
independent of its beauty, for it passes many points where 
important events of the revolutionary war took place. 

It was not without a pang that I looked on the spot where 
poor Andre was taken, and another where he was executed. 

Several forts, generally placed in most commanding 
situations, still show by their battered ruins, where the 
struggle was strongest, and I felt no lack of that moral 
interest so entirely wanting in the new States, and without 
which no journey can, I think, continue long without weary- 
ing the spirits. 

About forty miles from New York you enter upon the 
Highlands, as a series of mountains which then flank the 
river on both sides, are called. .The beauty of this scenery 
can only be conceived when it is seen. One might fancy 
that these capricious masses, with all their countless varie- 
ties of light and shade, were thrown together to show how 
passing lovely rocks, and woods, and water could be. Some- 
times a lofty peak shoots suddenly up into the heavens, 
showing in bold relief against the sky; and then a deep 
ravine sinks in solemn shadow, and draws the imagination 
into its leafy recesses. For several miles the river appears 
to form a succession of lakes; you are often enclosed on 
all sides by rocks rising directly from the very edge of the 
stream, and then you turn a point, the river widens, and 
again woods, lawns, and villages are reflected on its bosom. 

The state prison of Sing Sing is upon the edge of the 
water, and has no picturesque effect to atone for the painful 
images it suggests; the "Sleepy Hollow" of Washington 

3B2 



OF THE AMEKICANS 

Irving^ just above it^ restores the imagination to a better 
tone. 

West Point, the military academy of the United States, is 
fifty miles from New York. The scenery around it is mag- 
nificent, and though the buildings of the establishment are 
constructed with the handsome and unpicturesque regular- 
ity which marks the work of governments, they are so nobly 
placed, and so embosomed in woods, that they look beauti- 
ful. The lengthened notes of a French horn, which I 
presume was attending some of their military manoeuvres, 
sounded with deep and solemn sweetness as we passed. 
j About thirty miles further is Hyde Park, the magnificent 
seat of Dr. Hosack ; here the misty summit of the distant 
Kaatskill begins to form the outline of the landscape; it is 
hardly possible to imagine any thing more beautiful than 
this place. We passed a day there with great enjoyment; 
and the following morning set forward again in one of 
those grand floating hotels called steam-boats. Either on 
this day, or the one before, we had two hundred cabin pas- 
sengers on board, and they all sat down together to a table 
spread abundantly, and with considerable elegance. A 
continual succession of gentlemen's seats, many of them ex- 
tremely handsome, borders the river to Albany. We arrived 
there late in the evening, but had no difficulty in finding 
excellent accommodation. 

Albany is the state capital of New York, and has some 
very handsome public buildings; there are also some curious 
relics of the old Dutch inhabitants. 

The first sixteen miles from Albany we travelled in a 
stage, to avoid a multitude of locks at the entrance of the 
Erie canal; but at Schenectady we got on board one of the 
canal packet-boats for Utica. 

[ With a very delightful party, of one's own choosing, fine 
temperate weather, and a strong breeze to chase the 

335 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

mosquitoes^ this mode of travelling might be very agreeable, 
but I can hardly imagine any motive of convenience powerful 
enough to induce me again to imprison myself in a canal 
boat under ordinary circumstances. The accommodations 
being greatly restricted, every body, from the moment of 
entering the boat, acts upon a system of unshrinking 
egotism. The library of a dozen books, the backgammon 
board, the tiny berths, the shady side of the cabin, are all 
jostled for in a manner to make one greatly envy the power 
of the snail; at the moment I would willingly have given 
up some of my human dignity for the privilege of creeping 
into a shell of my own. To any one who has been accus- 
tomed, in travelling, to be addressed with, "Do sit here, 
you will find it more comfortable," the "You must go there, 
I made for this place first," sounds very unmusical. 

There is a great quietness about the women of America 
(I speak of the exterior manner of persons casually met), 
but somehow or other, I should never call it gentleness. In 
such trying moments as that of fixing themselves on board 
a packet-boat, the men are prompt, determined, and will 
compromise any body's convenience, except their own. The 
women are doggedly stedf ast in their will, and till matters 
are settled, look like hedgehogs, with every quill raised, 
and firmly set, as if to forbid the approach of any one who 
might wish to rub them down. In circumstances where an 
English woman would look proud, and a French woman 
nonchalante, an American lady looks grim ; even the young- 
est and the prettiest can set their lips, and knit their brows, 
and look as hard and unsocial as their grandmothers. 

Though not in the Yankee or New England country, we 
were bordering upon it sufficiently to meet in the stages and 
boats many delightful specimens of this most peculiar race. 
I like them extremely well, but I would not wish to have 
any business transactions with them, if I could avoid it, 

S34 



I OFTHE AMERICANS 

lest, to use their own phrase, "they should be too smart 
for me." 

It is by no means rare to meet elsewhere, in this working- 
day world of ours, people who push acuteness to the verge 
of honesty, and sometimes, perhaps, a little bit beyond; 
but, I believe, the Yankee is the only one who will be found 
to boast of doing so. It is by no means easy to give a 
clear and just idea of a Yankee; if you hear his character 
from a Virginian, you will believe him a devil ; if you listen 
to it from himself, you might fancy him a god — though a 
tricky one; Mercury turned righteous and notable. Mat- 
thews did very well, as far as "I expect," "I calculate," and 
*'I guess;" but this is only the shell; there is an immense 
deal within, both of sweet and bitter. In acuteness, cau- 
tiousness, industry, and perseverance, he resembles the 
Scotch ; in habits of frugal neatness, he resembles the Dutch ; 
in love of lucre he doth greatly resemble the sons of Abra- 
ham; but in frank admission, and superlative admiration of 
all his own peculiarities, he is like nothing on earth but 
himself. 

The Quakers have been celebrated for the pertinacity 
with which they avoid giving a direct answer, but what 
Quaker could ever vie with a Yankee in this sort of fencing } 
Nothing, in fact, can equal their skill in evading a question, 
excepting that with which they set about asking one. I am 
afraid that in repeating a conversation which I overheard 
on board the Erie canal boat, I shall spoil it, by forgetting 
some of the little delicate doublings which delighted me — 
yet I wrote it down immediately. Both parties were Yan- 
kees, but strangers to each other: one of them having, by 
gentle degrees, made himself pretty well acquainted with 
the point from which every one on board had started, and 
that for which he was bound, at last attacked his brother 
Reynard thus: — 



335 



I 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

"Well^ now^ which way may you be travelling?" 

"I expect this canal runs pretty nearly west." 

"Are you going far with it?" 

"Well, now, I don't rightly know how many miles it may 
be." 

"I expect you'll be from New York?" 

"Sure enough I have been at New York, often and 
often." 

"I calculate, then, 'tis not there as you stop ?" 

"Business must be minded, in stopping and in stirring." 

"You may say that. Well, I look then you'll be making 
for the Springs?" 

"Folks say as all the world is making for the Springs, 
and I expect a good sight of them is." 

"Do you calculate upon stopping long when you get to 
your journey's end?" 

" 'Tis my business must settle t1 at, I expect." 

"I guess that's true, too; but you'll be for making pleas- 
ure a business for once, I calculate?" 

"My business don't often lie in that line." 

"Then, may be, it is not the Springs as takes you this i 
line?" 

"The Springs is a right elegant place, I reckon." 

"It is your health, I calculate, as makes you break your ' 
good rules ?" 

"My health don't trouble me much, I guess." 

"No? Why that's well. How is the markets, sir? Are 
bread stuffs up?" 

"I a'nt just capable to say." 

"A deal of money's made by just looking after the arti- 
cle at the fountain's head." 

"You may say that." 

"Do you look to be making great dealings in produce up 
the country?" 

336 



OF THE AMERICANS 

"Why that, I expect, is difficult to know." 

"I calculate you'll find the markets changeable these 
times?" 

"No markets ben't very often without changing." 

"Why, that's right down true. What may be your big- 
gest article of produce?" 

"I calculate, generally, that's the biggest as I makes most 

by." 

"You may say that. But what do you chiefly call your 
most particular branch?" 

"Why, that's what I can't justly say." 

And so they went on, without advancing or giving an 
inch, till I was weary of listening; but I left them still at 
it when I stepped out to resume my station on a trunk at the 
bow of the boat, where I scribbled in my note-book this 
specimen of Yankee conversation. 

The Erie canal has cut through much solid rock, and we 
often passed between magnificent cliffs. The little falls of 
the Mohawk form a lovely scene; the rocks over which the 
river runs are most fantastic in form. The fall continues 
nearly a mile, and a beautiful village, called the Little 
Falls, overhangs it. As many locks occur at this point, we 
quitted the boat, that we might the better enj oy the scenery, 
which is of the wildest description. Several other passen- 
gers did so likewise, and I was much amused by one of 
our Yankees, who very civilly accompanied our party, point- 
ing out to me the wild state of the country, and apologising 
for it, by saying, that the property all round thereabouts 
had been owned by an Englishman; "and you'll excuse me, 
ma'am, but when the English gets a spot of wild ground 
like this here, they have no notions about it like us ; but the 
Englishman have sold it, and if you was to see it five years 
hence, you would not know it again; I'll engage there will 

337 



DOMESTIC MA^NNERS 

be by that^ half a score elegant factories — 'tis a true shame 
to let such a privilege of water lie idle." 

We reached Utica at twelve o'clock the following day, 
pretty well fagged by the sun by day, and a crowded cabin 
by night; lemon juice and iced-water (without sugar) kept 
us alive. But for this delightful recipe, feather fans, and 
eau de Cologne, I think we should have failed altogether; 
the thermometer stood at 90°. 

At two, we set off in a very pleasant airy carriage for 
Trenton Falls, a delightful drive of fourteen miles. These 
falls have become within the last few years only second 
in fame to Niagara. The West Canada Creek, which in 
the map shows but as a paltry stream, has found its way 
through three miles of rock, which, at many points, is 150 
feet high. A forest of enormous cedars is on their summit; 
and many of that beautiful species of white cedar which 
droops its branches like the weeping-willow, grow in the 
clefts of the rock, and in some places almost dip their dark 
foliage in the torrent. The rock is of a dark grey limestone, 
and often presents a wall of unbroken surface. Near the 
hotel a flight of very alarming steps leads down to the bed 
of the stream, and on reaching it you find yourself enclosed 
in a deep abyss of solid rock, with no visible opening but 
that above your head. The torrent dashes by with incon- 
ceivable rapidity; its colour is black as night, and the dark 
ledge of rock on which you stand, is so treacherously level 
with it, that nothing warns you of danger. Within the last 
three years two young people, though surrounded by their 
friends, have stepped an inch too far, and disappeared from 
among them, as if by magic, never to revisit earth again. 
This broad flat ledge reaches but a short distance, and then 
the perpendicular wall appears to stop your farther prog- 
ress; but there is a spirit of defiance in the mind of man; 
he will not be stayed either by rocks or waves. By the aid 

338 



OF THE AMERICANS 

of gunpowder a sufficient quantity of the rock has been re- 
moved to afford a fearful footing round a point, which 
when doubled, discloses a world of cataracts, all leaping 
forward together in most magnificent confusion. I suffered 
considerably before I reached the spot where this grand 
scene is visible; a chain firmly fastened to the rock serves 
to hang by, as you creep along the giddy verge, and this 
enabled me to proceed so far; but here the chain failed, 
and my courage with it, though the rest of the party con- 
tinued for some way farther, and reported largely of still 
increasing sublimity. But my knees tottered, and my head 
swam, so while the rest crept onward, I sat down to wait 
their return on the floor of rock which had received us on 
quitting the steps. 

A hundred and fifty feet of bare black rock on one side, 
an equal height covered with solemn cedars on the other, an 
unf athomed torrent roaring between them, the fresh remem- 
brance of the ghastly legend belonging to the spot, and the 
idea of my children clinging to the dizzy path I had left, 
was altogether sombre enough ; but I had not sat long before 
a tremendous burst of thunder shook the air ; the deep chasm 
answered from either side, again, again, and again; I 
thought the rock I sat upon trembled: but the whole effect 
was so exceedingly grand, that I had no longer leisure to 
think of fear; my children immediately returned, and we 
enjoyed together the darkening shadows cast over the abyss, 
the rival clamour of the torrent and the storm, and that 
delightful exaltation of the spirits which sets danger at 
defiance. A few heavy rain drops alarmed us more than 
all the terrors of the spot, or rather, they recalled our senses, 
and we retreated by the fearful steps, reaching our hotel 
unwetted and unharmed. The next morning we were again 
early a foot; the last night's storm had refreshed the air, 
and renewed our strength. We now took a different route, 

339 



DOMESTIC MANNERS I 

and instead of descending, as before,, walked through the 
dark forest along the cliff, sufficiently near its edge to catch 
fearful glimpses of the scene below. After some time the 
path began to descend, and at length brought us to the 
shanty, commemorated in Miss Sedgwick's Clarence. This 
is by far the finest point of the falls. There is a little bal- 
cony in front of the shanty, literally hanging over the tre- 
mendous whirlpool; though frail, it makes one fancy one- 
self in safety, and reminded me of the feeling with which 
I have stood on one side a high gate, watching a roaringj 
bull on the other. The walls of this shanty are literally) 
covered with autographs, and I was inclined to join tli 
laugh against the egotistical trifling, when one of the party 
discovered "Trollope, England," amidst the innumerable 
scrawls. The well knovm characters were hailed with such 
delight, that I think I shall never again laugh at any one 
for leaving their name where it is possible a friend may l 

find it. 

j 

We returned to Utica to dinner, and found that we must ! 
either wait till the next day for the Rochester coach, or 
again submit to the packet-boat. Our impatience induced 
us to prefer the latter, not very wisely, I think, for every 
annoyance seemed to increase upon us. The Oneida and the 
Genesee country are both extremely beautiful, but had we 
not returned by another route we should have known little 
about it. From the canal nothing is seen to advantage, 
and very little is seen at all. My chief amusement, I think, jl 
was derived from names. One town, consisting of a whiskey " 
store and a warehouse, is called Port Byron. At Rome, the 
first name I saw over a store was Remus, doing infinite ! 
honour, I thought, to the classic lore of his godfathers and | 
godmothers ; but it would be endless to record all the droll- j 
eries of this kind which we met with. We arrived at ' 
Rochester, a distance of a hundred and forty miles, on the 

340 



OF THE AMERICANS 

second morning after leaving Utica, fully determined never 
to enter a canal boat again, at least, not in America. 

Rochester is one of the most famous of the cities built 
on the Jack and Bean-stalk principle. There are many 
splendid edifices in wood; and certainly more houses, ware- 
i houses, factories, and steam-engines than ever were col- 
lected together in the same space of time; but I was told 
by a fellow-traveller that the stumps of the forest are still 
to be found firmly rooted in the cellars. 

The fall of the Genesee is close to the town, and in the 
course of a few months will, perhaps, be in the middle of it. 
It is a noble sheet of water, of a hundred and sixty feet 
perpendicular fall; but I looked at it through the window 
of a factory, and as I did not like that, I was obligingly 
handed to the door-way of a sawing-mill; in short, "the 
great water privilege" has been so ingeniously taken ad- 
vantage of, that no point can be found where its voice and 
its movement are not mixed and confounded with those 
of the "admirable machinery of this flourishing city." 

The Genesee fall is renowned as being the last and fatal 
leap of the adventurous madman, Sam Patch; he had leaped 
it once before, and rose to the surface of the river in perfect 
safety, but the last time he was seen to falter as he took 
the leap, and was never heard of more. It seems that he 
had some misgivings of his fate, for a pet bear, which he 
had always taken with him on his former break-neck adven- 
tures, and which had constantly leaped after him without 
injury, he on this occasion left behind, in the care of a 
friend, to whom he bequeathed him "in case of his not 
returning." We saw the bear, which is kept at the princi- 
pal hotel ; he is a noble creature, and more completely tame 
than I ever saw any animal of the species. 

Our journey now became wilder every step, the unbroken 
forest often skirted the road for miles, and the sight of a 

S41 



DOMESTIC ma:nners 

log-hut was an event. Yet the road was, for the greater 
part of the day, good, running along a natural ridge, just 
wide enough for it. This ridge is a very singular eleva- 
tion, and, by all the inquiry I could make, the favourite 
theory concerning it is, that it was formerly the boundary 
of Lake Ontario, near which it passes. When this ridge 
ceased, the road ceased too, and for the rest of the way 
to Lockport, we were most painfully jumbled and jolted 
over logs and through bogs, till every joint was nearly 
dislocated. 

Lockport is, beyond all comparison, the strangest looking 
place I ever beheld. As fast as half a dozen trees were 
cut down, a factory was raised up; stumps still contest the 
ground with pillars, and porticos are seen to struggle with 
rocks. It looks as if the demon of machinery, having in- 
vaded the peaceful realms of nature, had fixed on Lockport 
as the battleground on which they should strive for mas- 
tery. The fiend insists that the streams should go one way, 
though the gentle mother had ever led their dancing steps 
another ; nay, the very rocks must fall before him, and 
take what form he wills. The battle is lost and won. Na- 
ture is fairly routed, and driven from the field, and the 
rattling, crackling, hissing, splitting demon has taken pos- 
session of Lockport for ever. 

We slept there, dismally enough. I never felt more out 
of humour at what the Americans call improvement ; it is, in 
truth, as it now stands, a most hideous place, and gladly did 
I leave it behind me. 

Our next stage was to Lewiston; for some miles before 
we reached it we were within sight of the British frontier; 
and we made our salaams. 

The monument of the brave General Brock stands on an 
elevated point near Queenstown, and is visible at a great 
distance. 

342 



10F THE AMERICANS 
We breakfasted at Lewiston^ but felt every cup of cof- 
fee as a sin^ so impatient were we_, as we approached the 
end of our long pilgrimage, to reach the shrine, which 
nature seems to have placed at such distance from her 
worshippers, on purpose to try the strength of their devo- 
tion. 

A few miles more would bring us to the high altar, but 
first we had to cross the ferry, for we were determined upon 
taking our first view from British ground. The Niagara 
river is very lovely here; the banks are bold, rugged, and 
richly coloured, both by rocks and woods; and the stream 
itself is bright, clear, and unspeakably green. 

In crossing the ferry a fellow passenger made many in- 
quiries of the young boatman respecting the battle of 
Queenstown; he was but a lad, and could remember little 
about it, but he was a British lad, and his answers smacked 
strongly of his loyal British feeling. Among other things, 
the questioner asked if many American citizens had not 
been thrown from the heights into the river. 

"Why, yes, there was a good many of them; but it was 
right to show them there was water between us, and you 
know it might help to keep the rest of them from coming to 
trouble us on our own ground." 

This phrase, "our own ground," gave interest to every 
mile, or I believe I should have shut my eyes, and tried to 
sleep, that I might annihilate what remained of time and 
space between me and Niagara. 

But I was delighted to see British oaks, and British 
roofs, and British boys and girls. These latter, as if to im- 
press upon us that they were not citizens, made bows and 
curtseys as we passed, and this little touch of long unknown 
civility produced great effect. "See these dear children, 
mamma ! do they not look English ? how I love them !" was 
the exclamation it produced. 

343 



CHAPTER XXXIII 

Niagara — Arrival at Forsytlie's — First sight of the 
Falls — Goat Island — The Rapids — Buffalo — 
Lake Erie — Cananadaigua — Stage-coach adven- 
tures 

At length we reached Niagara. It was the brightest daj 
that June could give; and almost any day would have 
seemed bright that brought me to the object^ which for 
years I had languished to look upon. 

We did not hear the sound of the Falls till very near the 
hotel, which overhangs them; as you enter the door you see 
behind the hall an open space, surrounded by galleries, one 
above another, and in an instant you feel that from thence 
the wonder is visible. % 

I trembled like a fool, and my girls clung to me, trem- 
bling too, I believe, but with faces beaming with delight. 
We encountered a waiter who had a sympathy of some sort 
with us, for he would not let us run through the hall to the 
first gallery, but ushered us up stairs, and another instant 
placed us where, at one glance, I saw all I had wished for, 
hoped for, dreamed of. 

It is not for me to attempt a description of Niagara; I 
feel I have no powers for it. 1 

After one long, stedfast gaze, we quitted the gallery that 
we might approach still nearer, and in leaving the house 
had the good fortune to meet an English gentleman,^ who 
had been introduced to us at New York; he had preceded 
us by a few days, and knew exactly how and where to lead 
us. If any man living can describe the scene we looked 

* The accomplished author of "Cyril Thornton.'' 

344 



OF THE AMERICANS 

upon it is himself, and I trust he will do it. As for myself, 
I can only say, that wonder, terror, and delight completely 
overwhelmed me. I wept with a strange mixture of pleas- 
ure and of pain, and certainly was, for some time, too vio- 
lently affected in the physique to be capable of much pleas- 
ure; but when this emotion of the senses subsided, and I 
had recovered some degree of composure, my enjoyment 
was very great indeed. 

To say that I was not disappointed is but a weak expres- 
sion to convey the surprise and astonishment which this long 
dreamed of scene produced. It has to me something beyond 
its vastness; there is a shadowy mystery hangs about it, 
which neither the eye nor even the imagination can pene- 
trate ; but I dare not dwell on this, it is a dangerous subj ect, 
and any attempt to describe the sensations produced must 
lead direct to nonsense. 

Exactly at the Fall, it is the Fall and nothing else you 
have to look upon; there are not, as at Trenton, mighty 
rocks and towering forests, there is only the waterfall; but 
it is the fall of an ocean, and were Pelion piled on Ossa on 
either side of it, we could not look at them. 

The noise is greatly less than I expected; one can hear 
with perfect distinctness every thing said in an ordinary 
tone when quite close to the cataract. The cause of this, I 
imagine to be, that it does not fall immediately among 
rocks, like the far noisier Potomac, but direct and un- 
broken, save by its own rebound. The colour of the water, 
before this rebound hides it in foam and mist, is of the 
brightest and most delicate green; the violence of the im- 
pulse sends it far over the precipice before it falls, and 
the effect of the ever varying light through its transparency 
is, I think, the loveliest thing I ever looked upon. 

We descended to the edge of the gulf which receives the 
torrent, and thence looked at the horse-shoe fall in profile; 

345 



DOMESTIC MANNEES 

it seems like awful daring to stand close beside it^ and raise 
one's eyes to its immensity. I think the point the most 
utterly inconceivable to those who have not seen it, is the 
centre of the horse-shoe. The force of the torrent con- 
verges there, and as the heavy mass pours in, twisted, 
wreathed, and curled together, it gives an idea of irresistible 
power, such as no other obj ect ever conveyed to me. 

The following anecdote, which I had from good author- 
ity, may give some notion of this mighty power. 

After the last American war, three of our ships stationed 
on Lake Erie were declared unfit for service, and con- 
demned. Some of their officers obtained permission to send 
them over Niagara Falls. The first was torn to shivers by 
the rapids, and went over in fragments; the second filled 
with water before she reached the fall ; but the third, which 
was in better condition, took the leap gallantly, and retained 
her form till it was hid in the cloud of mist below. A re- 
ward of ten dollars was offered for the largest fragment 
of wood that should be found from either wreck, five for 
the second, and so on. One morsel only was ever seen, and 
that about a foot in length, was mashed as by a vice, and its 
edges notched like the teeth of a saw. What had become 
of the immense quantity of wood which had been precipi- 
tated ? What unknown whirlpool had engulphed it, so that, 
contrary to the very laws of nature, no vestige of the float- 
ing material could find its way to the surface ? 

Beyond the horse-shoe is Goat Island, and beyond Goat 
Island the American fall, bold, straight, and chafed to 
snowy whiteness by the rocks which meet it ; but it does not 
approach, in sublimity or awful beauty, to the wondrous 
crescent on the other shore. There, the form of the mighty 
cauldron, into which the deluge pours, the hundred silvery 
torrents congregating round its verge, the smooth and sol- 
emn movement with which it rolls its massive volume over 

S46 



OP THE AMERICANS 

the rock, the liquid emerald of its long unbroken waters, 
the fantastic wreaths which spring to meet it, and then, the 
shadowy mist that veils the horrors of its crash below, con- 
stitute a scene almost too enormous in its features for man 
to look upon. "Angels might tremble as they gazed;" and 
I should deem the nerves obtuse, rather than strong, which 
did not quail at the first sight of this stupendous cataract. 

Minute local particulars can be of no interest to those 
who have not felt their influence for pleasure or for pain. 
I will not tell of giddy stairs which scale the very edge of 
the torrent, nor of beetling slabs of table rock, broken and 
breaking, on which, shudder as you may, you must take your 
stand or lose your reputation as a tourist. All these feats 
were performed again and again, even on the first day of 
our arrival, and most earthly weary was I when the day 
was done, though I would not lose the remembrance of it to 
purchase the addition of many soft and silken ones to my 
existence. 

By four o'clock the next morning I was again at the little 
shanty, close to the horse-shoe fall, which seems reared in 
water rather than in air, and took an early shower-bath of 
spray. Much is concealed at this early hour by the heavy 
vapour, but there was a charm in the very obscurity; and 
every moment, as the light increased, cloud after cloud 
rolled off, till the vast wonder was again before me. 

It is in the afternoon that the rainbow is visible from the 
British side; and it is a lovely feature in the mighty land- 
scape. The gay arch springs from fall to fall, a fairy 
bridge. 

After breakfast we crossed to the American side, and ex- 
plored Goat Island. The passage across the Niagara, 
directly in face of the falls, is one of the most delightful 
little voyages imaginable; the boat crosses marvellously 
near them, and within reach of a light shower of spray. 

347 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

Real safety and apparent danger have each their share in 
the pleasure felt. The river is here two hundred feet deep. 
The passage up the rock brings you close upon the American 
cataract; it is a vast sheet, and has all the sublimity that 
height and width, and uproar can give; but it has none of 
the magic of its rival about it. Goat Island has, at all 
points, a fine view of the rapids; the furious velocity with 
which they rush onward to the abyss is terrific; and the 
throwing a bridge across them was a work of noble daring. 

Below the falls, the river runs between lofty rocks, 
crowned with unbroken forests; this scene forms a striking 
contrast to the level shores above the cataract. It appears 
as if the level of the river had been broken up by some vol- 
canic force. The Niagara flows out of Lake Erie, a broad, 
deep river; but for several miles its course is tranquil, and 
its shores perfectly level. By degrees its bed begins to sink, 
and the glassy smoothness is disturbed by a slight ripple. 
The inverted trees, that before lay so softly still upon its 
bosom, become twisted and tortured till they lose their form, 
and seem madly to mix in the tumult that destroys them. 
The current becomes more rapid at every step, till rock 
after rock has chafed the stream to fury, making the green 
one white. This lasts for a mile, and then down sink the 
rocks at once, one hundred and fifty feet, and the enor- 
mous flood falls after them. God said, let there be a cata- 
ract, and it was so. When the river has reached its new level, 
the precipice on either side shows a terrific chasm of solid 
rock; some beautiful plants are clinging to its sides, and 
oak, ash, and cedar, in many places, clothe their terrors with 
rich foliage. 

This violent transition from level shores to a deep ravine, 
seems to indicate some great convulsion as . its cause, and 
when I heard of a burning spring close by, I fancied the 

348 



OF THE AMERICANS 

volcanic power still at work, and that the wonders of the 
region might yet increase. 

We passed four delightful days of excitement and 
fatigue; we drenched ourselves in spray; we cut our feet 
on the rocks ; we blistered our faces in the sun ; we looked 
up the cataract, and down the cataract; we perched our- 
selves on every pinnacle we could find; we dipped our fin- 
gers in the flood at a few yards' distance from its thunder- 
ing fall; in short, we strove to fill as many niches of mem- 
ory with Niagara as possible; and I think the images will 
be within the power of recall for ever. 

We met many groups of tourists in our walks, chiefly 
American, but they were, or we fancied they were, but little 
observant of the wonders around them. 

One day we were seated on a point of the cliff, near the 
ferry, which commands a view of both the Falls. This, by 
the way, is considered as the finest general view of the 
scene. One of our party was employed in attempting to 
sketch, what, however, I believe it is impossible for any 
pencil to convey an idea of to those who have not seen it. 
We had borrowed two or three chairs from a neighbouring 
cottage, and amongst us had gathered a quantity of boughs, 
which, with the aid of shawls and parasols, we had contrived 
to weave into a shelter from the mid-day sun, so that alto- 
gether I have no doubt we looked very cool and comforta- 
ble. 

A large party who had crossed from the American side, 
wound up the steep ascent from the place where the boat 
had left them; in doing so their backs were turned to the 
cataracts, and as they approached the summit, our party was 
the principal object before them. They all stood perfectly 
still to look at us. The first examination was performed 
at the distance of about a dozen yards from the spot we 
occupied, and lasted about five minutes, by which time they 

349 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

had recovered breath, and acquired courage. They then 
advanced in a body_, and one or two of them began to ex- j 
amine (wrong side upwards) the work of the sketcher, in i 
doing which they stood precisely between him and his ob- 
ject; but of this I think it is very probable they were not 
aware. Some among them next began to question us as to 
how long we had been at the Falls ; whether there were i 
much company; if we were not from the old country, and 
the like. In return we learnt that they were just arrived; 
yet not one of them (there were eight) ever turned the head, 
even for a moment, to look at the most stupendous spectacle 
that nature has to show. 

The company at the hotel changed almost every day. 
Many parties arrived in the morning, walked to the Falls, 
returned to the hotel to dinner, and departed by the coach 
immediately after it. Many groups were indescribably 
whimsical, both in appearance and manner. Now and then 
a first-rate dandy shot in among us, like a falling star. 

On one occasion, when we were in the beautiful gallery, 
at the back of the hotel, which overlooks the horse-shoe fall, 
we saw the booted leg of one of this graceful race protruded 
from the window which commands the view, while his per- 
son was thrown back in his chair, and his head enveloped 
in a cloud of tobacco smoke. 

I have repeatedly remarked, when it has happened to me 
to meet any ultra fine men among the wilder and more im- 
posing scenes of our own land, that they throw off, in a 
great degree, their airs, and their "townliness," as some 
one cleverly calls these simagrees, as if ashamed to "play 
their fantastic tricks" before the god of nature, when so 
forcibly reminded of his presence; and more than once on 
these occasions I have been surprised to find how much inr 
tellect lurked behind the inane mask of fashion. But in 
America the effect of fine scenery upon this class of persons 

350 



OP THE AMERICANS 

is different^ for it is exactly when amongst it, that the most 
strenuous efforts at elegant noncJialance are perceptible 
among the young exquisites of the western world. It is true 
that they have little leisure for the display of grace in the 
daily routine of commercial activity in which their lives are 
passed, and this certainly offers a satisfactory explanation 
of the fact above stated. 

Fortunately for our enjoyment, the solemn character of 
the scene was but little broken in upon by these gentry. 
Every one who comes to Forsythe's Hotel (except Mrs. 
Bogle Corbet), walks to the shanty, writes their name in a 
book which is kept there, and, for the most part, descends 
by the spiral staircase which leads from the little platform 
before it, to the rocks below. Here they find another 
shanty, but a few yards from the entrance of that won- 
drous cavern which is formed by the falling flood on one 
side, and by the mighty rock over which it pours, on the 
other. To this frail shelter from the wild uproar, and the 
blinding spray, nearly all the touring gentlemen, and even 
many of the pretty ladies, find their way. But here I often 
saw their noble daring fail, and have watched them drip- 
ping and draggled turn again to the sheltering stairs, leav- 
ing us in full possession of the awful scene we so dearly 
loved to gaze upon. How utterly futile must every at- 
tempt be to describe the spot! How vain every effort to 
convey an idea of the sensations it produces ! Why is it so 
exquisite a pleasure to stand for hours drenched in spray, 
stunned by the ceaseless roar, trembling from the concus- 
sion that shakes the very rock you cling to, and breathing 
painfully in the moist atmosphere that seems to have less of 
air than water in it } Yet pleasure it is, and I almost think 
the greatest I ever enjoyed. We more than once ap- 
proached the entrance to this appalling cavern, but I never 
fairly entered it, though two or three of my party did. — I 

S51 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

lost my breath entirely; and the pain at my chest was so 
severe, that not all my curiosity could enable me to en- 
dure it. 

What was that cavern of the winds, of which we heard 
of old, compared to this? A mightier spirit than ^olus 
reigns here. 

Nor was this spot of dread and danger the only one in 
which we found ourselves alone. The path taken by "the 
company" to the shanty, which contained the "book of 
names," was always the same; this wound down the steep 
bank from the gate of the hotel garden, and was rendered 
tolerably easy by its repeated doublings; but it was by no 
means the best calculated to manage to advantage the pleas- 
ure of the stranger in his approach to the spot. All others, 
however, seemed left for us alone. 

During our stay we saw the commencement of another 
staircase, intended to rival in attraction that at present in 
use; it is but a few yards from it, and can in no way, I 
think, contribute to the convenience of the descent. The 
erection of the central shaft of this spiral stair was a most 
tremendous operation, and made me sick and giddy as I 
watched it. After it had been made fast at the bottom, the 
carpenters swung themselves off the rocks, by the means 
of ropes, to the beams which traversed it; and as they sat 
across them, in the midst of the spray and the uproar, I 
thought I had never seen life perilled so wantonly. But 
the work proceeded without accident, and was nearly fin- 
ished before we left the hotel. 

It was a sort of pang to take what we knew must be our 
last look at Niagara; but "we had to do it," as the Ameri^ 
cans say, and left it on the 1 0th June, for Buffalo. 

The drive along the river, above the Falls, is as beautiful 
as a clear stream of a mile in width can make it; and the 

352 



I OFTHE AMERICANS 

road continues close to it till you reach the ferry at Black 
Rock. 

We welcomed, almost with a shout, the British colours 
which we saw, for the first time, on Commodore Barrie's 
pretty sloop, the Bull Dog, which we passed as it was tow- 
ing up the river to Lake Erie, the commodore being about 
lie make a tour of the lakes. 

At Black Rock we crossed again into the United States, 
and a few miles of horrible jolting brought us to Buffalo. 

Of all the thousand and one towns I saw in America, I 
think Buffalo is the queerest looking; it is not quite so wild 
as Lockport, but all the buildings have the appearance of 
having been run up in a hurry, though every thing has an 
air of great pretension; there are porticos, columns, domes, 
iand colonnades, but all in wood. Every body tells you 
there, as in all their other new-born towns, and every body 
believes, that their improvement, and their progression, are 
more rapid, more wonderful, than the earth ever before wit- 
[nessed: while to me, the only wonder is, how so many thou- 
sands, nay millions of persons, can be found, in the nine- 
teenth century, who can be content so to live. Surely this 
^country may be said to spread rather than to rise. 
I The Eagle Hotel, an immense wooden fabric, has all the 
i pretensions of a splendid establishment, but its monstrous 
corridors, low ceilings, and intricate chambers, gave me the 
feeling of a catacomb rather than a house. We arrived 
after the table d'hote tea-drinking was over, and supped 
comfortably enough with a gentleman, who accompanied 
us from the Falls; but the next morning we breakfasted in 
a long, low, narrow room, with a hundred persons, and any 
thing less like comfort can hardly be imagined. 

What can induce so many intellectual citizens to prefer 
these long, silent tables, scantily covered with morsels of 
fried ham, salt fish and liver, to a comfortable loaf of bread 

353 



DOMESTIC MANNEES 

with their wives and children at home ? How greatly should 
I prefer eating my daily meals with my family, in an Indian 
wig-wam, to boarding at a table d'hote in these capacious 
hotels; the custom, however, seems universal through the 
country, at least we have met it, without a shadow of varia- 
tion as to its general features, from New Orleans to Buffalo. 

Lake Erie has no beauty to my eyes; it is not the sea. 
and it is not the river, nor has it the beautiful scenery gen- 
erally found round smaller lakes. The only interest its un- 
meaning expanse gave me, arose from remembering that its 
waters, there so tame and tranquil, were destined to leap 
the gulf of Niagara. A dreadful road, through forests 
only beginning to be felled, brought us to Avon; it is a 
straggling, ugly little place, and not any of their "Romes, 
Carthages, Ithacas, or Athens," ever provoked me by theii 
name so much. This Avon flows sweetly with nothing bui 
whiskey and tobacco juice. 

The next day's j ourney was much more interesting, for i1 
showed us the lake of Canandaigua. It is about eighteer 
miles long, but narrow enough to bring the opposite shore 
clothed with rich foliage, near to the eye ; the back-grounc 
is a ridge of mountains. Perhaps the state of the atmos- 
phere lent an unusual charm to the scene; one of those sud- 
den thunder-storms, so rapid in approach, and so sombre 
in colouring, that they change the whole aspect of thingj 
in a moment, rose over the mountains and passed across th( 
lake while we looked upon it. Another feature in the scen( 
gave a living, but most sad interest to it. A glaring woodei 
hotel, as fine as paint and porticos can make it, overhang; 
the lake; beside it stands a shed for cattle. To this shed 
and close by the white man's mushroom palace, two Indian; 
had crept to seek a shelter from the storm. This one was ar 
aged man, whose venerable head in attitude and expressior 
indicated the profoundest melancholy: the other was 

S54> 



OF THE AMERICANS 

youth, and in his deep-set eye there was a quiet sadness 
more touching still. There they stood, the native rightful 
lords of the fair land, looking out upon the lovely lake 
which yet bore the name their fathers had given it, watching 
the threatening storm that brooded there; a more fearful 
I one had already burst over them. 

I Though I have mentioned the lake first, the little town of 
jCanandaigua precedes it, in returning from the West. It 
is as pretty a village as ever man contrived to build. Every 
jhouse is surrounded by an ample garden, and at that flowery 
^season they were half buried in roses. 

It is true these houses are of wood, but they are so neatly 
painted, in such perfect repair, and show so well within 
their leafy setting, that it is impossible not to admire them. 
I Forty-six miles farther is Geneva, beautifully situated on 
Seneca Lake. This, too, is a lovely sheet of water, and I 
think the town may rival its European namesake in beauty. 
I We slept at Auburn, celebrated for its prison, where the 
highly-approved system of American discipline originated. 
In this part of the country there is no want of churches; 
every little village has its wooden temple, and many of them 
two; that the Methodists and Presbyterians may not clash. 

We passed through an Indian reserve, and the untouched 
forests again hung close upon the road. Repeated groups 
of Indians passed us, and we remarked that they were 
much cleaner and better dressed than those we had met 
wandering far from their homes. The blankets which they 
use so gracefully as mantles were as white as snow. 

We took advantage of the loss of a horse's shoe, to leave 
the coach, and approach a large party of them, consisting of 
oaen, women and children, who were regaling themselves 
with I know not what, but milk made a part of the repast. 
They could not talk to us, but they received us with smiles, 
and seemed to understand v/hen we asked if they had 

355 



DOMESTIC MANNEES 

moccasins to sell, for they shook their sable locks, and an- 
swered "no." 

A beautiful grove of butternut trees was pointed out to 
us, as the spot where the chiefs of the six nations used to 
hold their senate; our informer told me that he had been 
present at several of their meetings, and though he knew 
but little of their language, the power of their eloquence was 
evident from the great eifect it produced among themselves. 

Towards the end of this day, we encountered an adventure 
which revived our doubts whether the invading white men^ 
in chasing the poor Indians from their forests, have done 
much towards civilizing the land. For myself, I almost 
prefer the indigenous manner to the exotic. 

The coach stopped to take in "a lady" at Vernon; she 
entered, and completely filled the last vacant inch of oui : 
vehicle; for "we were eight" before. ^ I 

But no sooner was she seated, that her beau came for- 
ward with a most enormous wooden best-bonnet box. He 
paused for a while to meditate the possibilities — raised itj 
as if to place it on our laps — sunk it, as if to put it beneath 
our feet. Both alike appeared impossible; when, in true 
Yankee style he addressed one of our party with, "If youl] 
just step out a minute, I guess I'll find room for it.'* 

"Perhaps so. But how shall I find room for myself after-i 
wards ?" 

This was uttered in European accents, and in an instant 
half a dozen whiskey drinkers stepped from before the 
whiskey store, and took the part of the beau, 

"That's because you'll be English travellers, I expect, 
but we have travelled in better countries than Europe — w^ 
(have travelled in America — and the box will go, I calcu-,g 
late." 

We remonstrated on the evident injustice of the proceed- 
ing, and I ventured to say, that as we had none of us any 

856 



OF THE AMERICANS 

luggage in the carriage^ because the space was so very small, 
I thought a chance passenger could have no right so greatly 
to incommode us. 

"Right! — there they go — ^that's just their way — ^that will 
do ki Europe, may be; it sounds just like English tyranny, 
now — don't it ? but it won't do here." And thereupon he be- 
gan thrusting in the wooden box against our legs, with all 
his strength. 

"No law, sir, can permit such conduct as this." 

"Law!" exclaimed a gentleman very particularly drunk, 
"we makes our own laws, and governs our own selves." 

"Law!" echoed another gentleman of Vernon, "this is a 
free country, we have no laws here, and we don't want no 
foreign power to tyrannize over us." 

I give the words exactly. It is, however, but fair to state, 
that the party had evidently been drinking more than an 
usual portion of whiskey, but, perhaps, in whiskey, as in 
wine, truth may come to light. At any rate the people of 
the Western Paradise follow the Gentiles in this, that they 
are a law unto themselves. 

During this contest, the coachman sat upon the box with- 
out saying a word, but seemed greatly to enjoy the joke; 
the question of the box, however, was finally decided in our 
favour by the nature of the human material, which cannot 
be compressed beyond a certain degree. 

For great part of this day we had the good fortune to 
have a gentleman and his daughter for our fellow-travellers, 
who were extremely intelligent and agreeable; but I nearly 
got myself into a scrape by venturing to remark upon a 
phrase used by the gentleman, and which had met me at 
every corner from the time I first entered the country. We 
had been talking of pictures, and I had endeavoured to 
adhere to the rule I had laid down for myself, of saying 
very little, where I could say nothing agreeable. At length 

357 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

he named an American artist, with whose works I was verji 
familiar_, and after having declared him equal to Lawrencdf 
(judging by his portrait of West, now at New York), he 
added, "and what is more, madam, he is perfectly self- 
taught." 

I prudently took a few moments before I answered; for 
the equalling our immortal Lawrence to a most vile dauber 
stuck in my throat; I could not say Amen*, so for some time 
I said nothing; but, at last, I remarked on the frequency 
with which I had heard this phrase of self-taught used, not ij 
as an apology, but as positive praise. j 

"Well, madam, can there be a higher praise?'* | 

"Certainly not, if spoken of the individual merits of a 
person, without the means of instruction, but I do not under- i 
stand it when applied as praise to his works." 

"Not understand it, madam ? Is it not attributing genius 
to the author, and what is teaching compared to that ?** 

I do not wish to repeat all my own bons mots in praise of 
study, and on the disadvantages of profound ignorance, but 
I would willingly, if I could, give an idea of the mixed in- 
dignation and contempt expressed by our companion at the 
idea that study was necessary to the formation of taste, and 
to the development of genius. At last, however, he closed 
the discussion thus, — "There is no use in disputing a point 
that is already settled, madam; the best judges declare that 
Mr. H*****g's portraits are equal to those of Lawrence.'* 

"Who is it who has passed this judgment, sir?" 

"The men of taste of America, madam.** 

I then asked him if he thought it was going to rain? 
** * * * * * * 

The stages do not appear to have any regular stations at 
which to stop for breakfast, dinner, and supper. These 
necessary interludes, therefore, being generally impromptu, 
were abominably bad. We were amused by the patient 

358 



I 



OF THE AMERICANS 

manner in which our American fellow-travellers ate what- 
ever was set before them, without uttering a word of com- 
plaint, or making any effort to improve it, but no sooner 
reseated in the stage, than they began their complaints — ■ 
" 'twas a shame" — " 'twas a robbery" — " 'twas poisoning 
folks" — and the like. I, at last, asked the reason of this, 
and why they did not remonstrate? "Because, madam, no 
American gentleman or lady that keeps an inn won't bear to 
be found fault with." 

• We reached Utica very late and very weary; but the de- 
lights of a good hotel and perfect civility sent us in good 
humour to bed, and we arose sufficiently refreshed to enj oy 
a day's journey through some of the loveliest scenery in the 
world . 

Who is it that says America is not picturesque? I for- 
i get ; but surely he never travelled from Utica to Albany. I 
; really cannot conceive that any country can furnish a drive 
iof ninety-six miles more beautiful, or more varied in its 
beauty. The road follows the Mohawk River, which flows 
I through scenes changing from fields waving with plenty to 
I rocks and woods; gentle slopes, covered with cattle, are 
I divided from each other by precipices 500 feet high. 
Around the little falls there is a character of beauty as sin- 
gular as it is striking. Here, as I observed of many other 
American rivers, the stream appears to run in a much nar- 
nower channel than it once occupied, and the space which it 
seems formerly to have filled is now covered with bright 
green herbage, save that, at intervals, large masses of rock 
rise abruptly from the level turf ; these are crowned with all 
such trees as love the scanty diet which a rock affords. 
Dwarf oak, cedars, and the mountain ash, are grouped in a 
hundred different ways among them; each clump you look 
upon is lovelier than its neighbour; I never saw so sweetly 
wild a spot. 



DOMESTIC MAN NEKS 

I was surprised to hear a fellow-traveller say, as we 
passed a point of peculiar beauty, "all this neighbourhood 
belongs, or did belong, to Mr. Edward EUice, an English 
Member of Parliament, but he has sold a deal of it, and 
now, madam, you may see as it begins to improve;" and he \ 
pointed to a wooden edifice, where, on the white painty 
"Cash for Rags," in letters three feet high, might be seen. 

I then remembered that it was near this spot that my; 
Yankee friend had made his complaint against English in-- 
(diiference to "water privilege." He did not name Mr. Ed- 
ward Ellice, but doubtless he was the "English, as never i 
thought of improvement." 

I have often confessed my conscious incapacity for de- 
scription, but I must repeat it here to apologize for loayf 
passing so dully through this matchless valley of the Mo- 
hawk. I would that some British artist, strong in youthful I 
daring, would take my word for it, and pass over, for a 
summer pilgrimage through the State of New York. In 
very earnest, he would do wisely, for I question if the world 
could furnish within the same space, and with equal facility 
of access, so many subjects for his pencil. Mountains, for- | 
ests, rocks, lakes, river, cataracts, all in perfection. But he | 
must be bold as a lion in colouring, or he will make nothing 
of it. There is a clearness of atmosphere, a strength of 
chiaro oscuro, a massiveness in the foliage, and a brilliance 
of contrast, that must make a colourist of any one who has 
an eye. He must have courage to dip his pencil in shadows 
black as night, and light that might blind an eagle. As 1 1 
presume my young artist to be an enthusiast, he must first 
go direct to Niagara, or even in the Mohawk valley his 
pinioned wing may droop. If his fever run very high, he 
may slake his thirst at Trenton, and while there, he will not i 
dream of any thing beyond it. Should my advice be taken, 
I will ask the young adventurer on his return (when he shall 

360 



OF THE AMERICANS 

have made a prodigious quantity of money by my hint), to 
reward me by two sketches. One shall be the lake of 
Canandaigua; the other the Indians' Senate Grove of But- 
ternuts. 

During our journey, I forget on which day of it, a par- 
ticular spot in the forest, at some distance from the road, 
was pointed out to us as the scene of a true, but very roman- 
tic story. During the great and the terrible French revolu- 
tion (1792), a young nobleman escaped from the scene of 
horror, having with difficulty saved his head, and without 
the possibility of saving anything else. He arrived at New 
York nearly destitute; and after passing his life, not only 
in splendour, but in the splendour of the court of France, 
he found himself jostled by the busy population of the New 
World, without a dollar between him and starvation. In 
such a situation one might almost sigh for the guillotine. 
The young noble strove to labour; but who would purchase 
the trembling efforts of his white hands, while the sturdy 
strength of many a black Hercules was in the market? He 
abandoned the vain attempt to sustain himself by the aid of 
his fellow-men, and determined to seek a refuge in the for- 
est. A few shillings only remained to him ; he purchased an 
axe, and reached the Oneida territory. He felled a few of 
the slenderest trees, and made himself a shelter that Robin- 
son Crusoe would have laughed at, for it did not keep out 
the rain. Want of food, exposure to the weather, and un- 
wonted toil, produced the natural result; the unfortunate 
young man fell sick, and stretched upon the reeking earth, 
stifled, rather than sheltered, by the withering boughs which 
hung over him, he lay parched with thirst, and shivering in 
ague, with the one last earthly hope, that each heavy mo- 
ment would prove the last. 

Near to the spot which he had chosen for his miserable 
rest, but totally concealed from it by the thick forest, was 

361 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

the last straggling wigwam of an Indian village. It is not 
known how many days the unhappy man had lain without 
food, but he was quite insensible when a young squaw, 
whom chance had brought from this wigwam to his hut, en- 
tered, and found him alive, but totally insensible. The 
heart of woman is, I believe, pretty much the same every 
where; the young girl paused not to think whether he was 
white or red, but her fleet feet rested not till she had 
brought milk, rum, and blankets, and when the sufferer re- 
covered his senses, his head was supported on her lap, while, 
with the gentle tenderness of a mother, she found means to 
make him swallow the restoratives she had brought. 

No black eyes in the world, be they of France, Italy, or 
even of Spain, can speak more plainly of kindness, than the 
large deep-set orbs of a squaw; this is a language that all 
nations can understand, and the poor Frenchman read most 
clearly, in the anxious glance of his gentle nurse, that he 
should not die forsaken. 

So far the story is romantic enough, and what follows is 
hardly less so. The squaw found means to introduce her 
white friend to her tribe; he was adopted as their brother, 
speedily acquired their language, and assumed their dress 
and manner of life. His gratitude to his preserver soon 
ripened into love, and if the chronicle spoke true, the French 
noble and the American savage were more than passing 
happy as man and wife, and it was not till he saw himself 
the father of many thriving children that the exile began 
to feel a wish of rising again from savage to civilized exis- 
tence. 

My historian did not explain what his project was in vis- 
iting New York, but he did so in the habit of an Indian, 
and learnt enough of the restored tranquillity of his country 
to give him hope that some of the broad lands he had left 
there might be restored to him. 

362 



OF THE AMERICANS 

I have made my story already too long, and must not lin- 
ger upon it farther than to say that his hopes were fulfilled, 
and that, of a large and flourishing family^ some are settled 
in France, and some remain in America, (one of these, I 
understood, was a lawyer at New York), while the hero and 
heroine of the tale continue to inhabit the Oneida country, 
not in a wigwam, however, but in a good house, in a beauti- 
ful situation^ with all the comforts of civilized life around 
them. 

Such was the narrative we listened to, from a stage coach 
companion; and it appears to me sufficiently interesting to 
repeat, though I have no better authority to quote for its 
truth, than the assertion of this unknown traveller. 



S6S 



CHAPTER XXXIV 

Return to New York — Conclusion 

The comfortable Adelphi Hotel again received us at Al- 
bany, on the 14th of June_, and we decided upon passing the 
following day there^, both to see the place, and to recruit 
our strength, which we began to feel we had taxed severely 
by a very fatiguing journey, in most oppressively hot 
weather. It would have been difficult to find a better station 
for repose; the rooms were large and airy, and ice was fur- 
nished in most profuse abundance. 'm 

But notwithstanding the manifold advantages of this ex- 
cellent hotel, I was surprised at the un-English arrange- 
ment communicated to me by two ladies with whom we made 
a speaking acquaintance, by which it appeared that they 
made it their permanent home. These ladies were a mother 
and daughter; the daughter was an extremely pretty young 
married woman, with two little children. Where the hus- 
bands were, or whether they were dead or alive, I know not ; 
but they told me they had been boarding there above a year. 
They breakfasted, dined, and supped, at the table d'hote, 
with from twenty to a hundred people, as accident might de- 
cide ; dressed very smart, played on the piano, in the public 
sitting-room, and assured me they were particularly com- 
fortable, and well accommodated. What a life ! 

Some parts of the town are very handsome; the Town 
Hall, the Chamber of Representatives, and some other pub- 
lic buildings, stand well on a hill that overlooks the Hudson, 
with ample enclosures of grass and trees around them. 

Many of the shops are large, and showily set out. I was 
amused by a national trait which met me at one of them. 
I entered it to purchase some eau de Cologne, but finding 

364 



OF THE AMERICANS 

what was offered to me extremely bad, and very cheap, I 
asked if they had none at a higher price, and better. 

"You are a stranger, I guess," was the answer. "The 
Yankees want low price^ that's all ; they don't stand so much 
for goodness as the English." 

Nothing could be more beautiful than our passage down 
the Hudson on the following day; as I thought of some of 
my friends in England, dear lovers of the picturesque, I 
could not but exclaim, 

" Que je vous plains ! que je vous plains ! 
Vous ne la verrez pas." 

Not even a moving panoramic view, gliding before their eyes 
for an hour together, in all the scenic splendour of Drury 
Lane, or Covent Garden, could give them an idea of it. 
They could only see one side at a time. The change, the 
contrast, the ceaseless variety of beauty, as you skim from 
side to side, the liquid smoothness of the broad mirror that 
reflects the scene, and most of all, the clear bright air 
through which you look at it; all this can only be seen and 
believed by crossing the Atlantic. 

As we approached New York the burning heat of the day 
relaxed, and the long shadows of evening fell coolly on the 
beautiful villas we passed. I really can conceive nothing 
more exquisitely lovely than this approach to the city. The 
magnificent boldness of the Jersey shore on the one side, 
and the luxurious softness of the shady lawns on the other, 
with the vast silvery stream that flows between them, alto- 
gether form a picture which may well excuse a traveller for 
saying, once and again, that the Hudson river can be sur- 
passed in beauty by none on the outside of Paradise. 

It was nearly dark when we reached the city, and it was 
with great satisfaction that we found our comfortable apart- 
ments in Hudson Street unoccupied; and our pretty, kind 

365 



DOMESTIC MANNERS 

(Irish) hostess willing to receive us again. We passed an- 
other fortnight there; and again we enjoyed the elegant 
hospitality of New York, though now it was offered from 
beneath the shade of their beautiful villas. In truth, were 
all America like this fair city, and all, no, only a small pro- 
portion of its population like the friends we left there, I 
should say, that the land was the fairest in the world. 

But the time was come to bid it adieu! The important 
business of securing our homeward passage was to be per- 
formed. One must know what it is to cross the ocean before 
the immense importance of all the little details of accom- 
modation can be understood. The anxious first look into the 
face of the captain, to ascertain if he be gentle or rough; 
another, scarcely less important, in that of the steward, gen- 
erally a sable one, but not the less expressive; the accurate, 
but rapid glance of measurement thrown round the little 
state-rooms ; another at the good or bad arrangement of the 
stair-case, by which you are to stumble up and stumble 
down, from cabin to deck, and from deck to cabin; all this, 
they only can understand who have felt it. At length, how- 
ever, this interesting affair was settled, and most happily. 
The appearance promised well, and the performance bet- 
tered it. We hastened to pack up our "trumpery," as Cap- 
tain Mirven unkindly calls the paraphernalia of the ladies, 
and among the rest, my six hundred pages of griffonage. 
There is enough of it, yet I must add a few more lines. 

I suspect that what I have written will make it evident 
that I do not like America. Now, as it happens that I met 
with individuals there whom I love and admire, far beyond 
the love and admiration of ordinary acquaintance; and as I 
declare the country to be fair to the eye, and most richly 
teeming with the gifts of plenty, I am led to ask myself why 
it is that I do not like it. I would willingly know myself, 
and confess to others, why it is that neither its beauty nor 

366 



OP THE AMERICANS 

its abundance can suffice to neutralise_, or greatly soften, the 
distaste which the aggregate of my recollections has left 
upon my mind. 

I remember hearing it said, many years ago, when the ad- 
vantages and disadvantages of a particular residence were 
being discussed, that it was the "who?" and not the 
"where?" that made the difference between the pleasant or 
unpleasant residence. The truth of the observation struck 
me forcibly when I heard it ; and it has been recalled to my 
mind since, by the constantly recurring evidence of its just- 
ness. In applying this to America, I speak not of my 
friends, nor of my friends' friends. The small patrician 
band is a race apart ; they live with each other, and for each 
other ; mix wondrously little with the high matters of state, 
which they seem to leave rather supinely to their tailors and 
tinkers, and are no more to be taken as a sample of the 
American people, that the head of Lord Byron as a sample 
of the heads of the British peerage. I speak not of these, 
but of the population generally, as seen in town and coun- 
try, among the rich and the poor, in the slave states, and the 
free states. I do not like them. I do not like their prin- 
ciples, I do not like their manners, I do not like their 
opinions. 

Both as a woman, and as a stranger, it might be unseemly 
for me to say that I do not like their government, and there- 
fore I will not say so. That it is one which pleases them- 
selves is most certain, and this is considerably more im- 
portant than pleasing all the travelling old ladies in the 
world. I entered the country at New Orleans, remained 
for more than two years west of the AUeghanies, and passed 
another year among the Atlantic cities, and the country 
around them. I conversed during this time with citizens 
of all orders and degrees, and I never heard from any one 
a single disparaging word against their government. It is 

367 



DOMESTIC MANNEKS 

not^ therefore_, surprising^ that when the people of that 
country hear strangers questioning the wisdom of their in- 
stitutions^ and expressing disapprobation at some of their 
effects^ they should set it down either to an incapacity of 
judging^ or a malicious feeling of envy and ill-will. 

"How can any one in their senses doubt the excellence 
of a government which we have tried for half a century, and 
loved the better the longer we have known it?" m 

Such is the natural inquiry of every American when the 
excellence of their government is doubted; and I am in- 
clined to answer, that no one in their senses, who has visited 
the country, and known the people, can doubt its fitness for 
them, such as they now are, or its utter unfitness for any 
other people. 

Whether the government has made the people what they 
are, or whether the people have made the government what 
it is, to suit themselves, I know not; but if the latter, they 
have shown a consummation of wisdom which the assem- 
bled world may look upon and admire. 

It is matter of historical notoriety, that the original 
stock of the white population now inhabiting the United 
States, were persons who had banished themselves, or 
were banished from the mother country. The land they 
found was favourable to their increase and prosperity; the 
colony grew and flourished. Years rolled on and the chil- 
dren, the grand-children, and the great grand-children of 
the first settlers, replenished the land, and found it flowing 
with milk and honey. That they should wish to keep this 
milk and honey to themselves, is not very surprising. What 
did the mother country do for them? She sent them out 
gay and gallant officers to guard their frontier; the which 
they thought they could guard as well themselves; and 
then she taxed their tea. Now, this was disagreeable; and 
to atone for it, the distant colony had no great share in her 

368 



OF THE AMERICANS 

mother's grace and glory. It was not from among them 
that her high and mighty were chosen; the rays which em- 
anated from that bright sun of honour, the British throne, 
reached them but feebly. They knew not, they cared not, 
for her kings nor her heroes; their thriftiest trader was 
their noblest man; the holy seats of learning were but the 
cradles of superstition ; the splendour of the aristocracy, 
but a leach that drew their "golden blood." The wealth, 
the learning, the glory of Britain, was to them nothing; the 
having their own way every thing. 

Can any blame their wish to obtain it? Can any lament 
that they succeeded? 

And now the day was their own, what should they do 
next? Their elders drew together, and said, "Let us make 
a government that shall suit us all; let it be rude, and 
rough, and noisy; let it not affect either dignity, glory, or 
splendour; let it interfere with no man's will, nor meddle 
with any man's business ; let us have neither tithes nor taxes, 
game laws, nor poor laws; let every man have a hand in 
making the laws, and no man be troubled about keeping 
[them; let not our magistrates wear purple, nor our judges 
■ ermine ; if a man grow rich, let us take care that his grand- 
son be poor, and then we shall all keep equal ; let every man 
take care of himself, and if England should come to bother 
us again, why then we will fight all together." 

Could any thing be better imagined than such a govern- 
ment for a people so circumstanced? Or is it strange that 
they are contented with it? Still less is it strange that 
those who have lived in the repose of order, and felt secure 
that their country could go on very well, and its business 
proceed without their bawling and squalling, scratching 
, and scrambling to help it, should bless the gods that they 
are not republicans. 

So far all is well. That they should prefer a constitution 

369 



DOMESTIC MANNEKS 

which suits them so admirably, to one which would not 
suit them at all, is surely no cause of quarrel on our part; 
nor should it be such on theirs, if we feel no inclination to 
exchange the institutions which have made us what we are, 
for any other on the face of the earth. 

But when a native of Europe visits America, a most ex- 
traordinary species of tyranny is set in action against him; 
and as far as my reading and experience have enabled me 
to judge, it is such as no other country has ever exercised 
against strangers. 

The Frenchman visits England; he is ahime d' ennui at 
our stately dinners; shrugs his shoulders at our corps de 
ballet, and laughs a gorge deployee at our passion for driv- 
ing, and our partial affection for roast beef and plum pud- 
ding. The Englishman returns the visit, and the first thing 
he does on arriving at Paris, is to hasten to le Theatre des 
Varietes, that he may see "Les Anglaises pour rire/' and if 
among the crowd of laughers, you hear a note of more cor- 
dial mirth than the rest, seek out the person from whom it 
proceeds, and you will find the Englishman. 

The Italian comes to our green island, and groans at 
our climate; he vows that the air which destroys a statue 
cannot be wholesome for man; he sighs for orange trees, 
and macaroni, and smiles at the pretensions of a nation to 
poetry, while no epics are chanted through her streets. 
Yet we welcome the sensitive southern with all kindness, 
listen to his complaints with interest, cultivate our little 
orange trees, and teach our children to lisp Tasso, in the 
hope of becoming more agreeable. 

Yet we are not at all superior to the rest of Europe in 
our endurance of censure, nor is this wish to profit by it 
at all peculiar to the English; we laugh at, and find fault 
with, our neighbours quite as freely as they do with us, 
and they join the laugh, and adopt our fashions and our 

S70 



OF THE AMERICANS 

customs. These mutual pleas<antries produce no shadow of 
unkindly feeling; and as long as the governments are at 
! peace with each other, the individuals of every nation in 
Europe make it a matter of pride, as well as of pleasure, 
to meet each other frequently, to discuss, compare, and 
reason upon their national varieties, and to vote it a mark 
of fashion and good taste to imitate each other in all the 
external embellishments of life. 

The consequence of this is most pleasantly perceptible 
at the present time, in every capital of Europe. The long 
peace has given time for each to catch from each what 
was best in customs and manners, and the rapid advance 
of refinement and general information has been the result. 

To those who have been accustomed to this state of things, 
the contrast upon crossing to the new world is inconceiv- 
ably annoying; and it cannot be doubted that this is one 
great cause of the general feeling of irksomeness, and 
fatigue of spirits, which hangs upon the memory while re- 
calling the hours passed in American society. 

A single word indicative of doubt, that any thing, or 
every thing, in that country is not the very best in the 
world, produces an effect which must be seen and felt to 
be understood. If the citizens of the United States were 
indeed the devoted patriots they call themselves, they would 
surely not thus encrust themselves in the hard, dry, stub- 
born persuasion, that they are the first and best of the 
human race, that nothing is to be learnt, but what they are 
able to teach, and that nothing is worth having, which they 
do not possess. 

The art of man could hardly discover a more effectual 
antidote to improvement, than this persuasion; and yet I 
never listened to any public oration, or read any work, 
professedly addressed to the country, in which they did 
not labour to impress it on the minds of the people. 

371 



DOMESTIC MANNEKS 

To hint to the generality of Americans that the silent 
current of events may change their beloved government^ is 
not the way to please them; but in truth they need be 
tormented with no such fear. As long as by common con- 
sent they can keep down the pre-eminence which nature has 
assigned to great powers_, as long as they can prevent human 
respect and human honour from resting upon high talent, 
gracious manners,, and exalted station^ so long may they be 
sure of going on as they are. 

I have been told, however, that there are some among 
them who would gladly see a change; some, who with the 
wisdom of philosophers, and the fair candour of gentlemen, 
shrink from a profession of equality which they feel to be 
untrue, and believe to be impossible. 

I can well believe that such there are, though to me no 
such opinions were communicated, and most truly should I 
rejoice to see power pass into such hands. 

If this ever happens, if refinement once creeps in among 
them, if they once learn to cling to the graces, the honours, 
the chivalry of life, then we shall say farewell to American 
equality, and welcome to European fellowship one of the 
finest countries on the earth. 



372 



PREFACE 

In offering to the public these volumes on America^ their 
author would rather be considered as endeavouring to ex- 
cite fresh attention on a very important subject, than as 
pretending to furnish complete information upon it. 

Although much has already been vrritten on the great 
experiment, as it has been called, now making in govern- 
ment, on the other side of the Atlantic, there appears to be 
still room for many interesting details on the influence which 
the political system of the country has produced on the 
principles, tastes, and manners, of its domestic life. 

The author of the following pages has endeavoured, in 
some degree, to supply this deficiency, by carefully record- 
ing the observations she had an opportunity of making dur- 
ing a residence of three years and six months in different 
parts of the United States. 

She leaves to abler pens the more ambitious task of com- 
menting on the democratic form of the American govern- 
ment; while, by describing, faithfully, the daily aspect of 
ordinary life, she has endeavoured to show how greatly the 
advantage is on the side of those who are governed by the 
few, instead of the many. The chief object she has had in 
view is to encourage her countrymen to hold fast by a 
constitution that ensures all the blessings which flow from 
established habits and solid principles. If they forego 
these, they will incur the fearful risk of breaking up their 
repose by introducing the jarring tumult and universal 
degradation which invariably follow the wild scheme of 
placing all the power of the State in the hands of the 
populace. 

373 



PREFACE 

The United States of America contain a considerable 
variety of interesting objects in most branches of natural 
science, besides much that is new, a good deal that is beau- 
tiful, and some things that are wonderful. Nevertheless, 
as it is the moral and religious condition of the people 
which, beyond every thing else, demands the attention of 
the philosophical inquirer, the author would consider her 
work as completely successful, could she but awaken a more 
general interest on this subject. , 

HARROW, j| 

March, 1832 J 



S74 



LIFE OF THE AUTHOR 

Frances Milton Trollope was born at Stapleton, near 
Bristol England 10 March 1780. Her father^ the Reverend 
William Milton_, was afterward vicar of Heckfield. She was 
educated under his careful supervision and at an early age 
she developed decided literary tastes. 

In 1809 she married Thomas Anthony Trollope, a bar- 
rister, and during the next ten years became the mother of 
six children. The oldest son, Thomas Adolphus, was the 
author of numerous books, but the work of his brother 
Anthony surpassed his both in quantity and quality. 

Mr. Trollope was given to injudicious speculation, espe- 
cially in land, and the financial affairs of the family became 
much involved. They moved from place to place, Mr. Trol- 
lope's experiments in farming sinking them deeper and 
deeper in debt, till it seemed advisable to break up the home. 

In 1827 Mrs. Trollope went to America, taking with her 
two daughters and her second son. "She was," writes 
Anthony, in his Autobiography, ''partly instigated by the 
social and communistic ideas of a lady whom I well remem- 
ber, a certain Miss Wright, who was, I think, the first of 
American lecturers. Her chief desire, however, was to 
establish my brother Henry; and perhaps joined with that 
was the additional object of breaking up her English home 
without pleading broken fortunes to the world." 

Miss Wright was a wealthy English lady, and one of her 
"social and communistic ideas" had for its object the eleva- 
tion of the colored race. She maintained that if the blacks 
and the whites were equally educated there would be no 
difference between them but that of color. She intended to 
buy slaves, free them, and live with them in a sort of com- 

375 



LIFE OF THE AUTHOR 

munity. Land had already been purchased in Tennessee 
and a few rude buildings erected. Mrs. TroUope was in- 
terested in the scheme and when she left England she 
intended that her son should join Miss Wright in her work 
for the negro. 

A brief stay at Miss Wright's Nashoba, as she called her 
community, convinced Mrs. Trollope of the unhealthfulness 
of the situation and the futility of Miss Wright's scheme. 
Mrs. Trollope and her children then settled in Cincinnati, 
where she built a bazar which Thomas Adolphus explains in 
What I Remember as "an institution which was to combine 
the specialties of an athenaeum, a lecture hall and a 
bazar." 

This speculation proved unsuccessful, and in 1831 Mrs. 
Trollope returned to England. Her prospects might well 
have daunted the stoutest heart. Her husband's health in- 
capacitated him for supporting his family, her children 
needed aid, though most of them were too young to give 
any; besides, she had lost money in the Cincinnati experi- 
ment. But she had written a book on America, and early 
in 1832 it was brought out under the title. The Domestic 
Manners of the Americans. For this book she received 
about four thousand dollars within a few months of its 
publication, and from that time her writings brought her a 
considerable income. 

The Refugee in America followed in the same year. It is 
full of caustic humor, but weak in plot. In The Adven- 
tures of Jonathan Whitelaw, published in 1836, she re- 
newed her attack upon American society. The hero closely 
resembles Legree in Uncle Tom's Cabin. 

The book on America was the first of a long series of 
travels. Mrs. Trollope was the author of numerous novels, 
most of which are entirely forgotten, though they were very 
popular in their day. Perhaps the best novels are The 

376 



LIFE OP THE AUTHOR 

Vicar of Wrexliill and Widow Barnaby. The former is an 
attack upon the evangelical party in the church. Both 
novels are full of that broad comedy which abounds in most 
of her writings. In all^ her works number 114^ and all were 
written within 26 years. 

The family was consumptive, and one after another Mrs. 
Trollope buried her husband and three children. The son 
who had been with her in America was first stricken. "From 
that time forth," wrote Anthony, "my mother's most visible 
occupation was nursing. The novels went on, of course. 
We had learned to know that they would be forthcoming 
at stated intervals, and they always were forthcoming. The 
doctor's vials and the ink-bottles held equal places in my 
mother's room. I have written many novels, under many 
circumstances, but I much doubt whether I could write one 
! when my whole heart was by the bedside of a dying son. 
Her power of dividing herself into two parts, and keeping 
her intellect by itself, clear from the troubles of the world 
and free for the duties it had to do, I never saw equalled." 

Mrs. Trollope established her household several times in 
England, but she found it necessary to make frequent visits 
to the Continent for material for her books of travel. In 
1843 she settled in Florence, where the remainder of her 
life was spent. She died 6 October 1863 and was buried in 
the Protestant cemetery in Florence. The Villino Trollope, 
as the Florentines called her home in the Piazza dell' Indi- 
pendenza, is marked by a tablet in memory of her, erected 
by the municipality. 

She was a shrewd observer and she had the gift of ex- 
pression, but her tendency was in both novels and travels 
to dwell upon the broadly humorous if not upon the vulgar 
aspects of society. She seems, however, to have written 
with a moral purpose and perhaps she hoped to make folly 
contemptible by holding it up to view. 

S77 



LIFE OF THE AUTHOR 

Both sons who survived her bear testimony to her cheerful 
disposition_, her bravery, and her self-sacrifice. Her 
daughter-in-law, Frances Eleanor Trollope, who wrote her 
biography, thus sums up her character: "She was honest, 
courageous, industrious, generous, affectionate." 



378 



STORY OF THE BOOK 

'he Domestic Manners of the Americans was published by 
Whittaker, London, 1832 in two volumes. An American 
edition appeared in the same year. The Ameri<^ans as a 
whole were naturally indignant at what seemed ill-natured 
caricature and the reviews were very severe. The reviewer 
who noticed the book in The American Quarterly Review 
for September 1832 showed a more dispassionate spirit than 
most of his contemporaries: 

"Her mistakes are numerous, but rather, we are disposed 
to think, the fault of her education . . , and not the 
result of any inclination on the part of the lady. . . . 
She regards all things with a querulous and unquiet spirit 
and a jaundiced and a wandering eye." 

The American criticisms were gathered and published in 
pamphlet form in 1833. 

Mrs. Trollope's book received both praise and censure 
from the British press. Lockhart wrote in The London 
Quarterly Review for March 1832: 

"This is exactly the title-page we have long wished to see, 
and we rejoice to say, now that the subject has been taken 
up, it is handled by an English lady of sense and acuteness, 
who possesses very considerable powers of expression and 
enjoyed unusually favorable opportunities for observation." 

Blackwood's Magazine gave a less favorable notice of the 
volumes : 

"They contain much truth, undoubtedly, but truth very 
palpably varnished and exaggerated for the purpose of 
expression. . . . Nor ought it to be forgotten that of 
nine-tenths of the United States she saw nothing.'* 

It does not seem probable that Mrs. Trollope came to 

379 



STORY OF THE BOOK 



America in a prejudiced frame of mind. Due allowance 
should be made for the fact that she came from a rich, ripe 
civilization; she was filled with old traditions and accus- 
tomed to cultured society. She found herself in a new 
country where many things must necessarily be in a raw, 
rough state. She made the mistake of attributing the crude 
provincialism of American life to the institutions of the 
country, instead of to their true source, the newness of the 
land and the struggle for existence. She was given to 
drawing universal conclusions from particular premises. 
Democracy was in her mind the cause of all the evils which 
she saw or fancied she saw. Much that Mrs. Trollope says 
was repeated by Miss Martineau, who visited the United 
States in 1834-36, and by De Tocqueville, who came here in 
1831, but both were of a philosophical temper of mind, 
and they saw that this crudity was merely a passing phase 
in the social evolution of the country. 

Mrs. Trollope lived in the United States for three years. 
For that reason she was better fitted than most travelers to 
deal with the subject. Dickens wrote his American Notes 
after a sojourn of only six months, and consequently it is 
a much more superficial book than Mrs. Trollope's. But she 
saw only a part of the country; most of her time was spent 
in a small city in what was then the far west. She found 
much to admire in some of the eastern cities, especially in 
New York. She did not visit New England. Nor did she 
have opportunities to study all classes of society. She was 
not, like Miss Martineau, a celebrity, and she did not re- 
ceive the attentions from eminent citizens which were so 
freely bestowed upon that lady. The people whom Mrs. 
Trollope saw were not upon dress parade ; they were for the 
most part engaged in making a living. An American re- 
viewer said that if Mrs. Trollope could have had Miss 
Martineau's resources she would have written a book which 



1 



380 



I STORYOFTHEBOOK 

would have been an invaluable present to the American 
people. 

Captain Marryat, who visited the United States in 1837- 
38, says (A Diary in America) that the people of Cincin- 
nati "were not angry with Mrs. Trollope for having de- 
^ scribed the society which she saw^ but for having asserted 
that it was the best society," Mrs. Trollope was unknown 
in Cincinnati except as an English woman who was building 
a bazar, and she did not receive the attention which she 
thought she deserved. This omission may have colored her 
narrative. Then, too, the failure of her business speculation 
may have unconsciously to herself, perhaps, added bitter- 
ness to her account. 

The extreme appealed to her, as it did to Dickens. She 
dwelt upon the ludicrous side of the society which she saw, 
and she lived in a part of the country where, at that time, 
she was most likely to find that side. Dickens, in a preface 
to a new edition of Martin Chuzzlewit, written twenty-four 
years after the first appearance of the book, said, "The 
I American portion of the story is in no other respect a cari- 
I' cature, than as it is an exhibition, for the most part, of the 
ludicrous side of American character, of that side which 
was, four and twenty years ago, from its nature the most 
obtrusive and the most likely to be seen by such travelers 
as young Chuzzlewit and Mark Tapley." 

The similarity between some of Mrs. TroUope's char- 
acters and those of Dickens might lead one to suppose that 
they studied the same models, though Dickens puts on the 
color even more highly than Mrs. Trollope. We have the 
literary lady in Mrs. TroUope's woman of the "sat-heres" 
and in Dickens' Mrs. Hominy. The hotel keepers found 
in both books seem to be nearly related, both travelers re- 
marked the number of military titles, and there are many 
other points of resemblance. 

S81 



STORY OF THE BOOK 

Thomas Adolphus Trollope, who spent several months 
with his mother in Cincinnati, says of her book in What I 
Remember, "Nothing in the book from beginning to end 
was false; nothing of minutest detail which was asserted to 
have been seen was not seen ; nor was anything intentionally 
exaggerated for literary effect. But the tone of the book 
was unfriendly and was throughout the result of offended 
taste rather than of well-weighed opinion. . . , Un- 
questionably the book was a very clever one, written with 
infinite verve and brightness. But — save for the fact that 
censure and satire are always more amusing than the re- 
verse — an equally clever and equally truthful book might 
have been written in a diametrically opposite spirit." 

After making all due allowance for the limitations of the 
author, both in temperament and in opportunities for ob- 
servation. The Domestic Manners of the Americans is of 
considerable historical and sociological value, as showing 
how a few sections of our country appeared to English eyes 
in 1828-31. 



S82 

I 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

S Translation of quotation on title page. They say 
of me that although I do not speak of authority_, nor of cul- 
ture, nor of politics, nor of morality, nor of people in posi- 
tion, nor of the opera, nor of other spectacles, nor of any 
one who has a career, I can express all this freely. 

5 Accompanied hy my son and two daughters. The son 
was Henry who died in 1834. One of the daughters after- 
ward wrote a high-church novel, called Chollerton. 

5 Bolgia. Ditch. There were ten ditches or bolge of 
stone in the eighth circle of the Inferno. (Canto XVIII) 

12 New Harmony. A town in Posey county, Indiana, 
settled in 1815 by a German community of religious social- 
ists, called Harmonists. In 1825 it was sold to Robert 
Owen, a social theorist who had introduced various social 
reforms at his cotton mills at New Lanark, Scotland. He 
founded at New Harmony an experimental community based 
upon his system. It soon proved a failure and the property 
was bought by William Maclure for school use. His ex- 
periment, also, was unsuccessful and he went to Mexico 
where he died. His library and most of his maps and 
charts were bequeathed to the Philadelphia academy of 
arts and sciences. 

14 Almach's. A suite of assembly rooms in King street, 
London, formerly noted as a fashionable resort for the 
aristocracy. Annual balls were given there, the managers 
being ladies of high social rank. 

15 Miss Wright. Miss Frances Wright was a ward of 
General Lafayette. She possessed a large fortune which 
she determined to devote to the improvement of the colored 
race in the southern states of America. To this end she se- 

383 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

cured land in Tennessee, purchased slaves, whom she im- 
mediately freed, and built houses to shelter them. She 
proposed living with the freed slaves in a sort of community 
based upon the ideas of Mr. Owen. At first it was expected 
that Henry Trollope would join the community. 

23 St. James's. A royal palace in London, formerly a 
residence of the sovereigns. At one time it was used for 
state ceremonies, hence the expression, the court of St. 
James. It is now used only for levees and drawing-rooms. 

25 Nashoha. The name given by Miss Wright to her 
community. 

28 Bond-street. A fashionable street in London. 

33 The Louisville canal. This .canal two and one half 
miles long was completed in 1833. 

36 Herculean service. Hercules was one of the most 
celebrated heroes of the Greek legends, and was endowed 
with great physical strength. While yet in his cradle he 
strangled two enormous serpents. The Delphic oracle told 
him that if he would perform twelve tasks imposed upon 
him by Eurystheus, the Argive king, he would become im- 
mortal. One of these tasks was the cleansing of the stables 
of King Augeas. Three thousand head of oxen were kept 
in these stables, which had not been cleaned in thirty years. 
Hercules accomplished the task by diverting a stream of 
swift current so that it ran through the stable. 

37 "Un voyage a faire, et Paris au hout." A journey 
to make, and Paris at the end. 

38 Trottoir. Pavement. 

39 Salisbury Plain. An extensive undulating tract in 
Wiltshire England near the town of Salisbury. 

41 Honey of Hyhla. Hybla was the name of three 
cities in ancient Sicily. From which one the famous honey 
came is a matter of doubt. 

42 The Torver. The Tower of London where political 

384 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

prisoners were confined. Many executions took place there. 

42 A little leaning toward sedition. Anthony Trollope 
wrote of his mother (Autobiography) "She loved society, 
affecting a somewhat liberal role, and professing an 
emotional dislike to tyrants, which sprung from the wrongs 
of would-be regicides and the poverty of Italian exiles. An 
Italian marquis who had escaped with only a second shirt 
from the clutches of some arch-duke whom he had wished 
to exterminate, or a French proletaire with distant ideas of 
sacrificing himself to the cause of liberty, were always wel- 
come to the modest hospitality of her home." 

42 "Guar da e passa (e poi) ragioniam di lor." Watch 
and wait (and then) guard what is left. 

44 Unapt to reason back from effects to their causes. 
Anthony says (Autobiography) "With her, politics were 
always an affair of the heart, as indeed were all her con- 
victions. Of reasoning from causes I think she knew 
nothing." 

44 Captain Hall. Captain Basil Hall. He visited the 
United States in 1827-28, and in 1829 published the result 
of his observations under the title Travels in North America. 
He abstained from offensive personalities but the tone of the 
book is far from cordial. Like Mrs. Trollope Captain 
Hall was given to generalizing from single facts. 

45 For a young man to settle in. In regard to this plan 
of his parents Anthony says (Autobiography), "I have no 
clear knowledge of her object, or of my father's; but I be- 
lieve that he had an idea that money might be made by 
sending goods — little goods, such as pincushions, pepper- 
boxes, and pocket-knives — out to the still unfurnished states ; 
and that she conceived that an opening might be made for 
my brother Henry by erecting some bazar or extended shop 
in one of the western cities. Whence the money came, I 

385 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

do not know, but the pepper-boxes were brought and the 
bazar built." 

49 Parseme. Strewn. 

52 Jeanie Deans. A character in Scott's novel, The j 
Heart of Mid-Lothian. She sacrificed much for her sister. 

54 The women invariably herd together. Miss Bremer I 
wrote from Cincinnati in 1850 (Homes of the New World), ,; 
"One never sees the gentlemen here all crowding into one j 
room, and the ladies into another, or the former in one cor- I 
ner of the drawing-room and the latter in another, just as if j 
they were afraid of each other. The gentlemen who come j 
into society — and they seem fond of drawing-room society j 
in an evening — consider it a duty, and as it seems to me 
often, a pleasure, to entertain the ladies." 

61 Spurzheim. 1776-1832. A German physician and 
phrenologist. 

61 Combe (George). 1788-1858. A Scotch phrenolo- 
gist. 

62 Nil admirari. To wonder at nothing. 
69 As Rebecca. See Scott's Ivanhoe. Chap. XXIX. 

79 Mr. Flint (Timothy). 1780-1840. An America 
clergyman and author. In 1825 he became a missionary i: 
the Mississippi valley and engaged in itinerant preaching 
and school-teaching. He was the author of two books on 
the Mississippi valley and several novels. At that time Mr. 
Flint was almost the only author west of the Mississippi, 
and it appears that he was the only American author with 
whom Mrs. TroUope became acquainted. 

80 Michael might have vouchsafed to Eve. See Mil- 
ton's Paradise Lost, Book XL 

87 Our eldest son. Thomas Adolphus Trollope. 1810- 
1892. He was the author of about thirty works, compris- 
ing novels, travels, histories and biographies. 

386 



NOTES ON TTTE TEXT 

88 Convent Garden. A fruit and vegetable market in 
London. 

91 Look after the affairs of his country. "You will 
find that he (the American) is well acquainted with the 
rules of the administration and that he is familiar with the 
mechanism of the laws." — De Tocqueville (Democracy in 
America). 

93 Croyez 7noi. Believe me_, madam_, only those with 
whom they have to do find them too many. 

115 Sister heroines. Olivia and Sophia Primrose in 
The Vicar of Wakefield. 

117 Heels thrown higher than the head. Henry T. 
Tuckerman wrote in 1864 (America and Her Commenta- 
tors), "Until recently the sight of a human foot protruding 
over the gallery of a western theater was hailed with the 
instant and vociferous challenge_, apparently undisputed as 
authoritative, of 'Trollope,' whereupon the obnoxious mem- 
ber was withdrawn from sight." 

130 Suaviter in modo. Gentle in manners. 

139 National glory. "Nothing is more embarrassing in 
the ordinary intercourse of life than this irritable patriotism 
of the Americans. A stranger may well feel inclined to 
praise many of their institutions, but he begs permission to 
blame some things in it — a permission which is inexorably 
refused." — De Tocqueville (Democracy in America). 

139 Superiority of the American to the British navy. 
This was so soon after the War of 1812, with Perry's victory 
on Lake Erie and other remarkable naval triumphs, that a 
little boasting might have been pardoned. 

141 Trespass, assault .... legal interference. 
De Tocqueville wrote (Democracy in America), "I believe 
that in no country does crime more rarely elude punishment. 
The reason is that every one conceives himself to be inter- 

387 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

ested in furnishing evidence of the crime and in seizing the 
delinquent." 

146 Vauxhall. Vauxhall gardens, a place of amusement 
in London. 

147 Macbriar. A character in Old Mortality. 

149 Milton's lines. The quotation is from Lycidas. 

150 "Quivi sospiri." 

Here sighs, weeping, and loud screams 

Resounded through the air 

Horrible tongues. 

Words of pain, accents of anger. 

Loud and hoarse voices and sound of strokes (by 

hands) with them. 

156 Miss Sedgwick (Catherine Maria). 1789-1867. 
Novelist much read in her day. 

157 Our Cincinnati speculation. "Mrs. Trollope's 
bazar," wrote Captain Marryat in 1838 (A Diary in Amer- 
ica), "raises its head in a very imposing manner: it is com- 
posed of many varieties of architecture; but I think the 
order under which it must be classed is the preposterous. 
They call it Trollope's folly; and it is remarkable how a 
shrewd woman like Mrs. Trollope could have committed 
such an error. A bazar like an English bazar is only to be 
supported in a city which has arrived at the acme of luxury ; 
where there are hundreds of people willing to be employed 
for a trifle . . . and thousands who will spend money 
on trifles. . . . Now in America no one makes trifles, no 
one will devote time to selling such articles unless well com- 
pensated, and no one will be induced to give a half-penny ^ 
more than the thing is worth. In consequence, nothing was 
sent to Mrs. Trollope's bazar. She had to furnish it from 
the shops, and had to pay high prices to the young women 
who tended it; and the people of Cincinnati preferred go- 
ing to the stores. No wonder, then, that it was a failure.'* 

388 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

Thomas Adolphiis Trollope wrote (Wliat I Remember) 
that "large quantities of goods were sent out from England 
of kinds and qualities wholly unfitted for the purpose." 
The mistake was his father's, who "was still more ignorant 
of such matters than he was of farming." 

171 Semplon. The Simplon pass, the famous road over 
the Simplon mountain in Switzerland, built by Napoleon. 

174 Chepstow. A river port in Monmouthshire, Eng- 
land. It lies between bold cliffs on a slope rising from the 
river. 

178 Pour lie pas fatigue?' ta mis eric or de. In order not 
to weary thy mercy. 

182 Plaideurs. A comedy by Racine, a French poet. 

1639-1699. 

182 "Passons/* Let us pass on to the deluge, I beg. 

184 Totally divested of gaiety. De Tocqueville's com- 
ment was similar: "they have here the most colorless en- 
jo janent than can be imagined." (Democracy in America). 

184 ''Peut-onf Can they preach so well that she will 
not doze during the sermon? 

196 Cherokees. In July 1817 the Cherokee Indians 
were forced to exchange their eastern lands for territory 
west of the Mississippi. This end was not effected, how- 
ever, without much trouble and bloodshed. The state of 
Georgia passed laws extending over the territory of the 
Cherokees by which the Indians were practically outlawed, 
deprived of citizenship and debarred from being witnesses. 
The Indians appealed to the United States supreme court, 
but that body refused them the right to bring action. In 
1835 a treaty was made with a jDortion of the tribe for the 
removal of them all and three years later troops were sent 
to compel them to move. 

199 Unseemly attitudes. Captain Basil Hall wrote in 

389 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

1828 (Travels in North America)^ "The most perfect de- 
corum prevailed at all times in the House." 

202 Four pictures. These pictures were painted by 
Colonel Trumbull^ an American painter 1756-1843. 

208 Ma7ision house. The official residence of the Lord 
Mayor of London. 

204 Prince Hohenlohe. 1794-1849. He was the au- 
thor of a number of mystical books^ and he attained much 
fame as a healer of the sick by miraculous power. 

205 Utopia. An imaginary island, the home of a happy 
society described in Sir Thomas More's political romance, 
Utopia. 

205 Eh hien. Monsieur? 

Well, sir, how do you like liberty and equality put into 
practice } 

Why, sir, I confess that the beautiful ideal which we con- 
ceived of all that at Paris was more poetic than that which 
we find here. 

205 "Qui est cette dame?" Who is that lady? 

"C'est la femelle de ce male." She is the female of that 
male. 

206 Lavater. 1741-1801. A Swiss physiognomist. 

229 Cervantes laughed Spain's chivalry away. Cer- 
vantes Saavedra (Miguel de). 1547-1 61 6. A Spanish 
novelist. His greatest work, Don Quixote, satirized the pre- 
valent taste for indulgence in feats of arms. 

232 Place de Louis Quinze. The spot where Louis XVI 
was executed, then called the Place de la Revolution, and 
prior to the revolution called the Place de Louis Quinze. 
Now known as the Place de la Concorde. 

2S2 Carrousel (Place du). A public square in Paris 
with a small triumphal arch commemorating the campaign of 
1806. 

390 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

232 Regent street. A fashionable thoroughfare in Lon- 
don. 

232 Green Park. A public park in London. 

237 Lasso. Alas. 

239 Allston (Washington). 1779-1843. One of the 
best-known of American painters and a member of the Royal 
Academy. 

239 Ingham (Charles). 1797-1863. An Irish painter 
who settled in New York. He was one of the founders of 
the National Academy of Design. 

244 Parny. 1753-1814. A French poet. 

244 ''Entre done.'* Enter_, then^ and guard thy hat. 

248 Bourbons. A French family of highest note who 
occupied several European thrones. They reigned over 
France from 1589 to 1792 and from 1815 to 1848. 

279 Houynnhmn. A race of horses described in Swift's 
Gulliver's Travels. They were endowed with human reason 
and ruled over men. 

279 ''Sire, ce sont." Sir, they are fierce pigs^ fierce pigs. 

281 Af onf i (Vincenzo). 1753-1828. An Italian poet. 

282 Sherlock (William). 1641-1704. An English 
bishop and author. 

282 Taylor. Probably Jeremy Taylor is meant. Eng- 
lish bishop and author 1613-1667. 

296 Ej; cathedra Americana. On high American au- 
thority. 

302 The dwelling of Joseph Bonaparte. In 1815, 
Joseph, the eldest brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, came to 
the United States and settled at Bordentown_, New Jersey, 
under the name of Count de Survilliers. 

311 Medici of the Republic. The Medici were a power- 
ful family who ruled over the Florentine republic. They 
did much to promote art and literature. 

391 



NOTES ON THE TEXT 

350 Simagrees. Affectations. Apisliness. 

352 Molus. In mythology the god of the winds which 
he kept imprisoned in a cave in the ^olian islands. 

SQ5 Que je vous 'plains! How I pity you, How I pity 
you. You may not see it. 

370 Les Anglais pour rire. Literally, a burlesque on the 
English. 



392 



SOME BOOKS ON AMERICA BY 
EUROPEANS 

Travels through The United States and the Country of 
the Iroquois and Upper Canada^ 1795-7. Due de La Roche- 
foucauld-Liancourt. London: 1799- 

A Year's Residence in The United States. William Cob- 
bett. London: 1818. 

Sketches of America. Henry Bradshaw Fearon. Lon- 
don: 1818. 

Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825 ; or, A Journal of 
Travels in The United States. New York: 1829. 

Travels in North America. Captain Basil Hall. 1829- 

Democracy in America. Alexis De Tocqueville. Paris: 
1835. 

Society in America. Harriet Martineau. London: 1837. 

Retrospect of Western Travel. Harriet Martineau. Lon- 
don: 1838. 

A Diary in America. Captain Marryat. London: 1839- 

America_, Historical_, Statistic and Descriptive. J. S. 
Buckingham. London: 1841. 

American Notes. Charles Dickens. London: 1842. 

Martin Chuzzlewit. Charles Dickens. London: 1844. 

America and the American People. Friedrich von Rau- 
mer. Translated by W. M. Turner. New York: 1846. 

The Homes of the New World. Frederica Bremer. 
1853-4. 

Things as They Are in America. William Chambers. 
London and Edinburgh: 1854. 

Promenade in Amerique. J. J. Ampere. Paris: 1855. 

North America. Anthony Trollope. London: 1862. 

Journal of a Residence on a Georgia Plantation in 1838-9. 
Frances Anne Kemble. London: 1863. 

393 



Greater Britain. Charles Wentworth Dilke. New 
York: 1869- 

Some Impressions of The United States. E. A. Freeman. 
New York: 1883. 

Henry Irving's Impressions of The United States. New 
York: 1884. 

The American Commonwealth. James Bryce. London 
and New York: 1888. Third edition, with additional chap- 
iters, 189S. 

Civilization in The United States. Matthew Arnold. 
New York: 1888. 

Triumphant Democracy. Andrew Carnegie. New York: 
1886. 

Outre Mer. Paul Bourget. New York: 1895. 

A Little Tour in America. Dean Hole. London and New 
York: 1895. 

The Land of the Dollar. G. W. Steevens. New York: 
1897. 

The Land of Contrasts. James Fullerton Muirhead. 
London: 1898. 

From Sea to Sea. Rudyard Kipling. New York: 1899. 

America To-day. William Archer. New York: 1899. 

American Traits. Hugo Miinsterburg. New York: 1901. 



S94 



EXPLANATION OF THE UNIT BOOKS 

WHAT ARE THE UNIT BOOKS? By The Unit 
Books we mean a monthly issue of the permanent books 
of all literatures presented to American readers in the best 
obtainable English versions. 

The serial is a collection of famous books — fiction, histor- 
ical works, masterpieces of scientific knowledge, records of 
daring travel, books of joower, books of mere information, 
technical manuals and the classics of ancient and modern 
times. 

The aim of the publishers is to place the chief works of 
literature, science and the practical arts within the reach of 
every person. 

The series is to include accurate texts of the worthiest 
books published at the lowest possible prices in a thorough, 
systematic manner. It is intended as an encyclopedic issue 
of the world's acknowledged classics — those books pub- 
lished more than 50 j^^ears ago which have survived severe 
criticism and remain unimpaired in vitality and in their 
power to entertain — the old books whose vitality time has 
touched so lightly that they may be thought of as immortal. 

We do not reprint a book merely because it is classical. 
It must be both entertaining and classical. 

The unit idea is not the gist or substance of the enter- 
prise, but is used as an advertising means to an end — that 
end being the wider circulation of books hitherto not always 
easily accessible. 

HOW ARE THESE BOOKS EDITED.? In the case 
of books originally written in the English language the 
reprints are based on the best existing texts as determined 

395 



by an expert in bibliography. Our editions of such ancient 
and recent continental writings as have survived,, and now 
deserve wider readings are based on translations which have 
stood the test of a half -century of criticism. 

Our editions may be depended upon for the accuracy of 
the reprint^ the practical value of the annotation^ the relative 
perfection of the proof-reading. Our proofs are not en- 
trusted to the printer, but are read by experienced editors. 
They are read three times after the printer has done his 
best. The reprints are unabridged and unexpurgated. 

All editorial matter tends to convey exact encyclopedic 
information rather than the personal opinions of the editor. 
This information is intended to be helpful and readable. 
It includes the bibliographical story of the book — under 
what conditions it was written, how it was received and what 
place it has come to occupy in the minds of men — the bio- 
graphical story of the author, terse notes explaining allu- 
sions and proper names in the text, a table of dates show- 
ing the place of the author and his book in literary history, 
a glossary where needed, an index, and a table of author- 
ities. ^ 

«■• 

IS THIS ANOTHER LITERARY PIRACY? The 
copyright laws of every country will be scrupulously ob- 
served. Wherever the circumstances warrant the Unit re- 
print will be issued by arrangement with the former owner 
of the literary rights involved, though the worl^ in question 
may be technically not in copyright. 

The series does not consist exclusively of non-copyright 
books, but includes books still in copyright in the United 
States and in Great Britain. By arrangement with their 
authors certain books of practical value are to be issued on 
the unit system. 

ARE THE BOOKS PRESENTABLE? The Unit 
issues are printed in a broad-faced type, clear and legible, 
and not from worn-out plates. The paper is a soft white, 

396 



opaque and light in the hand. It is technically known as 
"featherweight/' and is peculiarly soft and mellow. The 
margins are wide and the effect is simple and dignified. 

Dr. Johnson once said: "The books that can be held in 
the hand and carried to the fireside are the best after all." 
We had the good doctor's dictum in mind when the question 
of format had to be decided. We remembered also that Sir 
Walter Scott was fond of a certain edition of his works, 
chiefly on the score pf its size. And we founded our format 
on the dimensions of this edition. In height seven inches, 
in breadth four and a half inches, in thickness varying 
from five-eighths to one inch, our volume is a trim, com- 
pact book of a size that does not weary the wrist, but is 
pleasant to carry in the pocket and large enough to appear 
well on the library shelf. The issues vary in length from 
200 to 600 pages. 

The paper and cloth-bound copies will have cut edges and 
the full leather-bound copies a gilt top. The paper wrap- 
per is stout and will not tear readily. The cloth cover is a 
durable linen crash stamped in gold. The full leather bind- 
ing is in a new pattern lettered in gold. All the bindings 
a:''e flexible and will bear long usage. A dark green is the 
uniform .color of the three bindings. This is the type-face 
adopted for this series. This is the quality of paper used 
in all editions. These are the margins and the dimensions 
of the book itself. 

WHY "A NEW WAY OF PUBLISHING BOOKS"? 

We began with the proposition that books worth having are 
too dear in this country. Here the dear books and the cheap 
books are dearer than the corresponding books of the great 
reading nations of Europe. Such is the need. We answer 
it with The Unit Books, the cheapest series of books ever 
published in America and made on a system fair to book- 
producer and to book-buyer. 

Our books are sold at prices based on the length of the 
book and therefore on the actual cost of production. How- 

397 



ever long the original text^ we publish it in its entirety on a 
uniform quality of paper and in the same size of type. 

We begin with our unit of 25 pages. ^ 

The price of each set of 25 pages is two cents. " 

The price of 100 pages is 8 cents^ and each additional 
25 pages adds two cents to the price. 

Thus_, 250 pages cost 20 cents and 400 pages cost 32 
cents. 

We bind our books in three bindings — 

Stiff paper of a durable sort. 

Cloth with gold title. 

Full leather lettered in gold. 

A paper wrapper is given with the printed pages. 

The cloth cover costs 30 cents additional. 

The full leather binding costs 50 cents additional. 

Prices are strictly net. 

The price of the single volume is regulated by the number 
of units it contains and by the binding you choose. 

Postage is charged extra at the rate of eight cents per 
volume. Orders must be accompanied by the proper remit- 
tance_, as we cannot afford to open small accounts. 

It is this principle of proportionate prices which the gen- 
eral title of the series is intended to emphasize. The price 
of the book is printed on the paper wrapper^ and is in- 
serted in the cloth and leather bindings in such a way as to 
permit its removal without damaging the book. 

This new system of publishing is more logical than the 
system of fixed prices for reprints. Other things being 
equal, it costs less to produce a short book than a long one. 
Hitherto the selling price of the short book has been as high 
as that of the long. And even the longest book has not 
been sold to you at a loss. We give you the benefit of the 
saving on the shorter book. Our prices are regulated by 
the cost of the actual materials and workmanship which go 
toward the making of the book. 

398 



WITH WHAT BOOKS DOES THE UNIT SERIES 
BEGIN? In compiling this list of the first 100 books the 
publisher attempted to produce a catholic collection of books, 
in which every person, however unusual his literary tastes, 
may find at least one book to satisfy and profit him. This 
list will be amended and added to from time to time. The 
texts will appear on the first day of each month. As the 
lengths and prices of The Unit Books are determined, an- 
nouncements will be made in these bulletins. 

The Unit Books may be had separately or in any com- 
bination you may prefer. 

The list is tentative. We invite suggestions from every 
lover of good books. If you would like to see a reprint of 
any book write us about it. 

Where price is not given below you may remit 40 cents 
for paper, 70 cents for cloth, 90 cents for leather. 

ADD EIGHT CENTS PER VOLUME FOR POSTAGE 

1 The Marble Faun Nathaniel Hawthorne 1 Sept. 1903 

21 units (524 pages) cloth 72 cts 
paper 42 cts leather 92 cts 

2 Letters and Addresses Abraham Lincoln 1 Oct. 1903 

16 units (399 pages) cloth 62 cts 
paper 32 cts leather 82 cts 

3 Tales of Mystery Edgar Allan Poe 1 Nov. 1903 

21 units (507 pages) cloth 72 cts 
paper 42 cts leather 92 cts 

4 Life of Jesus Ernest Renan 1 Dec. 1903 

19 units cloth 68 cts 

paper 38 cts leather 88 cts 

5 Prue and I George William Curtis 1 Jan. 1904 

8 units (176 pages) cloth 46 cts 
paper 16 cts leather 66 cts 

6 Domestic Manners of the Americans Mrs. Trollope 

1 Feb. 1904 

17 units (402 pages) cloth 64 cts 
paper 34 cts leather 84 cts 

'^99 



7 Study of Words Archbishop Trench 1 Mch. 1904 

13 units (320 pages) cloth 56 cts 

paper 26 cts leather 76 cts 

8 National Documents (collection of state 

papers) 1 April 1904 
21 units (504 pages) cloth 72 cts 

paper 42 cts leather 92 cts 

9 Intellectual Life P. G. Hamerton 1 May 1904 

10 Nonsense Books Edward Lear 1 June 1904 

11 The Journals of Lewis and Clark 1 July 1904 

12 De Quincey's Essays 1 Aug. 1904 

13 Familiar Letters of James Howell 1 Sept. 1904 

14 Life of Benvenuto Cellini 1 Oct. 1904 

15 Pater's Marius the Epicurean 1 Nov. 1904 

16 Boker's Francesca da Rimini (with a comparative 

study of other versions 1 Dec. 1<?04 

17 Rejected Addresses and other prose parodies and bur- 

lesques 1 Jan. 1905 

18 Goethe's Faust 1 Feb. 1905 

19 The Old Red Sandstone Hugh Miller 1 Mch. 1905 

20 Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen 1 April 1905 

21 Hertzka's Trip to Freeland 1 May 1905 

22 Horace in Latin and English 1 June 1905 

23 Swinburne's Poems 1 July 1905 

24 The Philippines in the 17th Century 1 Aug. 1905 

25 The Yemassee W. G. Simms 1 Sept. 1905 

26 Knickerbocker's New York Irving 1 Oct. 1905 

27 Democracy in America De Tocqueville 1 Nov. 1905 

28 Unit Book of Facts 1 Dec. 1905 

29 Poems of Walt Whitman 1 Jan. I906 

30 Autobiography and Poor Richard's Almanac by 

Franklin 1 Feb. I906 
The Conspiracy of Pontiac Parkman 
The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table Holmes 
Geoffrey Hamlyn Henry Kingsley 
Doctor Thorne Anthony Trollope 

400 



Law for Every Day 

A First Book on Elcctricty 

A Sentimental Journey Sterne 

On tlie Origin of Species Darwin 

The Buccaneers of America Lieut. Burney 

The Poems of Robert Browning 

Pickwick Papers Dickens 

Margaret Sylvester Judd 

Tales Gaboriau 

Two Years Before the Mast Dana 

A Pronouncing Dictionary 

A Tale of Two Cities Dickens 

Chemical History of a Candle Faraday 

Our Village (first series) Mary Mitford 

Confessions of Rousseau 

Past and Present Carlyle 

The Last Days of Pompeii Lytton 

Noctes Ambrosianae John Wilson 

Some Fruits of Solitude William Penn 

The Miscroscope P. H. Gosse 

Last of the Mohicans Cooper 

The Comedies of Sheridan 

Familiar Colloquies of Erasmus 

The Rise of the Dutch Republic Motley 

Voyage of a Naturalist Darwin 

Typee Herman Melville 

Natural History of Selborne Gilbert White 

The Three Musketeers Dumas 

Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green Cuthbert Bede 

Physical Geography of the Sea Lieut. Maury 

A Cyclopedia of Literary Allusions 

Discourses on Painting Sir Joshua Reynolds 

A Dictionary of Classical Quotations 

A Handbook of Proverbs 

Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry 

Dante's Divine Comedy 

401 



Homer's Odyssey 

Virgil in Latin and English 

The Essays of Sainte-Beuve 

Hakluyt's Principal Navigations 

Ivanhoe Scott 

Don Quixote Cervantes 

The Plays of Shakespeare 

Fairy Tales The Brothers Grimm 

Notre Dame Victor Hugo 

Paul and Virginia Saint Pierre 

Monks of Thelema Besant and Rice 

The Bible of Spain George Borrow 

Legends of the Madonna Mrs. Jameson 

Essays of Elia Charles Lamb 

The Cloister and the Hearth Charles Reade 

Adam Bede George Eliot 

Aurora Leigh Mrs. Browning 

On Compromise John Morley 

Villette Charlotte Bronte 

Marjorie Fleming and Rab and his Friends John 

Brown 
St. Winifred's F. W. Farrar 
Fable of the Bees Bernard de Mandeville 
The Apocrypha 

Apologia Pro Vita Sua Newman 
Froissart's Chronicles 
Leaves of Grass Whitman 

ADD EIGHT CENTS PER VOLUME FOR POSTAGE 

Howard Wilford Bell 

publisher of The Unit Books 

259 Fifth Avenue New York 
1 February 1904} 



402 



NOV 2 1904 









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